Finding Love
by demidae
Summary: Heinz thought his miserable school life would never get any better. But then he met him, and his whole world was turned upside down. Now Heinz has to learn how to love, and how to be loved in return. DoofxPerry AU
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So, this chapter is more of an explanation chapter. The plot and everything really gets going after this, so it does get much better. :)

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><p>Fact: I am gay<p>

Fact: Everybody, including my parents, hates that I am gay

Fact: Because of this, sometimes, I hate it too...

My name is Heinz Doofenshmirtz. I am a student of German descent in a small town in Alabama. My parents moved me and my little brother here when we were real little. I've still retained my German accent, while my brother has completely lost his. People used to think the accent was cool, but not so much anymore.

I am a science nerd. I spend most of my time tinkering with various objects around my house, much to the discontent of my father. I've entered several science fairs at my school, winning every single one of them, even though my teachers look down on me as they hand me the award. I would like to win the Nobel Prize one day, and show that I can stand up with the rest of the science greats.

But according to everybody else, I have one major problem.

I came out to my parents about 6 months ago, a couple months before the end of the school year. My father was in an immediate rage. He went on about how the American school system has corrupted me, taught me to think that way. I tried to mention that Germany is more accepting of gays than America, so it definitely wasn't America's fault. But he ignored me, as per usual. My mother just sat there, shocked, looking at me with distant eyes. She'd looked at me that way before, particularly whenever Roger out-shined me in something. She looked at me like I was no longer her son, but I knew it'd been that way for a long time.

After his temper tantrum, my father simply sent me to my room, and didn't speak to me for the next several days. When I went back to school, I got up the courage to also come out to my friends, but they had a reaction similar to my father's, but not as loud. In a day, I had lost my family and my friends, all because of a psychological preference that I couldn't control.

I spent most of my time alone, which allowed me to devote my entire life to my inventions. I invented my first one - the Inator (I'm not very good with names) - in the week after I came out. It was not very difficult, as I now had a lot of time on my hands. I figured I might as well put it to some good use.

I was so wrapped up in my inventions that I hardly noticed as the school year ended. However, my father clearly noticed. He sent me to a boys and girls summer sports camp in Germany, with the intention of making me "man-up". It had an extreme counter-effect, however, as a couple of the boys, one of whom I started to like very much, were also gay. I had the best summer of my life here. I was finally around people who were like me! I even shared my first kiss here. If anything, this camp solidified the fact that I was gay, which pissed off my father even more.

I'm basically disowned. At the begging of my mother, who was probably worrying about her own reputation with the neighbors, my father allowed me to stay living in his house and eating his food. However, I have to be out by 16, and I don't get any inheritance or anything when they die. I'm currently 15. I only have a couple months. I'll make due, though...

This brings me back to the present. It's already a few months into the new school year. The situation is the same as last year, if a little bit worse. Ignorant idiots will post hateful things on my locker, and at least once a day, I find my head being flushed in a toilet. It's no big deal, though. I've learned to manage it on my own, even if it is difficult.

But in the midst of all this is when I met him. The boy who would change my life forever.

I was sitting in my first period English class. My school doesn't have homeroom, but we still do announcements and things like that at the beginning of the period. I wasn't really listening. I was more focused on my new blueprints than what the teacher was saying. However, as soon as she said, "We've got a new student joining us today," my ears instantly perked up.

He sauntered into the room casually, like he already owned the place. Just by looking at him, I hated him. He had medium length, unusually teal hair, which framed a strong face. He was wearing an orange T-shirt that showed his muscles off slightly, and a normal pair of blue jeans. Sure, he was gorgeous. But he had that air around him that said, "I'm a douchebag."

"Why don't you introduce yourself, honey?" the teacher encouraged.

"Well,..." his voice was silky smooth, and I found myself lost in it. All I heard was the voice introducing him, and not the introduction. I completely missed everything that he said.

"Go ahead and take the empty seat next to Heinz," she said sweetly to the boy. At the sound of my name I snapped out of it, realizing what had just happened. But then the teacher turned quickly on me, as if saying with her eyes, 'Don't make a move.'

Ha, don't count on that.

I watched him closely as he walked over. As I looked, I saw immediately that I had mistaken his douchebagery. What I saw was something not a lot of teenage boys carry, and that's confidence. He walked casually over to the seat next to mine, and smiled a 1000 watt smile in my direction.

"Hey," he said, and my heart jumped slightly. "My name's Perry." he said, almost as if he knew I hadn't been listening.

I introduced myself. "My name's Heinz," I said with more confidence than I felt.

"Hmm... Heinz." he said, and the sound of him saying my name made me melt. Geez, the guy was only here five minutes and I was already in love with him. "Is that German?"

"Uh, yes," I said, shocked.

He noticed. "Don't act so surprised. I went to a private school in New York. I know a few things." He smiled, again as if telling me he knew I hadn't been listening to his original introduction. Surely he would have said something like that already.

"Don't make friends with that homo."

I cringed. And I was surprised, and a little disappointed to see Perry's smile fade. I became nervous. What if he was just like all the other idiots at the school? Despite if he liked my personality or not, he would not be my friend if I was gay...

"You're gay?" Perry asked hesitantly. I nodded solemnly. He then shrugged casually. "Ah, whatever floats your boat, I guess. Doesn't matter either way to me."

...What did he say?...

He must have noticed the dropped-jaw look on my face as he continued. "Like I said, don't act so surprised. All-boys private school in New York. Half the people in my grade were gay."

"But... they're gay!" the guy from before claimed. Great comeback, by the way.

"So? What's wrong with him being gay?" Perry asked the kid calmly.

At the prospect of being called out on his idiocy, though, he simply shrugged off the question. Apparently he really wanted Perry to like him. As I looked around, I could see all the girls in the class raping Perry with their eyes. Now I could see what the kid was up to. The "Be Best Friends With The New Kid That All The Girls Love So The Girls Will Love You Too" plan. He said, "Whatever, man. Listen, my friends and I are throwing a party after school. Maybe you can come by, get to know the right people."

"Oh, sure! Why not!" Perry said excitedly, which I will admit, deflated me a little. "I'll get to compare crazy New York parties with the parties here!"

"Haha, yea! I'll text where it is and everything later. What's your cell number?" The kid asked. I tuned them out though. I didn't want to seem like I was a creeper listening in on Perry's phone number, even though I really wanted it.

Suddenly, the bell rang, which was the first time I was ever disappointed for the end of a class. I sat there a moment while Perry stood up. As he was leaving with his "new found friend," I really wished I had made some kind of move to keep him around. But just before he walked out the door, he turned around and yelled to me, "Nice meeting ya, Heinz! I'll see you later!"

And from that moment on, my heart always belonged to him.

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><p>AN: Thanks for reading! Comments and critiques are always appreciated!

Phineas and Ferb © Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Phineas and Ferb © Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh

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><p>I didn't see Perry again until third hour. I hardly even noticed I went to second hour. I was too busy daydreaming and doodling things about Perry. I know that he's straight, but it's okay to dream, right? It wasn't like I was going to make a move or anything...<p>

Anyways, I sat down at my lab table in science class, ready to tune out a lecture and continue doodling, when I heard his laughter down the hall. It was a cheerful sound the resonated throughout the classroom. I immediately stopped what I was doing, and looked up. As he walked into the room, I was sort of depressed by what I saw.

He was still with that kid from first hour (he never outright teased me until today, so I never bothered to remember his name). But now, he was also surrounded by the other kids from that group. All of them were in my science class as well, so it was becoming increasingly unlikely that Perry would want to be anywhere near me.

However, I'd forgotten about a lovely thing called assigned seating, which was my best friend at the moment. Every other single seat in the room was taken, except for the one by me. The science teacher was one of my favorites, and he figured that I was good enough at science that I didn't need a lab partner. "Take that seat next to Heinz," the teacher said. "He's one of the best students."

Perry walked over and sat down, turning to me with a grin. "See, I told ya I'd see ya later." I laughed with him. It felt good.

Our teacher told us to quiet down, as we were doing a lab today. He gave us a bunch of simple instructions, and we were on our merry way. However, as I looked at Perry so we could get started, he was still looking at the board, as if he was confused.

"Perry?..." I asked hesitantly, which seemed to snap him out of it. "Do you get it?"

"Um, not really. I've never been good at science. But I love forensics and solving crimes and stuff like that, so it sucks that I can never figure chemistry out." He laughed again.

I laughed too. "How can you love forensics but hate chemistry?" I teased.

"I want to be a spy when I'm older." When I raised my eyebrow at him jokingly, he explained. "I think that whole James Bond thing is awesome! Plus, I'd be helping people on an international scale! Wouldn't that be awesome!" The way his eyes lit up when he was talking about this drew me in to everything he was saying. He was so passionate about it. I believed that if he really wanted to achieve this, he would, and he would be the best damn spy in the history of forever.

That's when a thought crossed my mind that would've sounded like I was trying to hit on Perry if the person didn't know the context of the situation. But when I thought about it, I can honestly swear that it was a completely innocent offer. All I wanted to do was make sure that Perry could achieve his dream. "I can tutor you, if you want?"

Perry looked surprised. "Oh? And what makes you qualified to do that?" He said jokingly.

"I want to be a Nobel Prize-winning scientist when I get older." When he gave me the same eyebrow-raised look I gave him earlier, I said, "Hey, if you can be a spy, I can be a scientist!" He held up his hands in mock defeat. "But I'm always tinkering with stuff at home, and I'm awesome at chemistry. So I could tutor you, if you wanted."

He didn't even have to think about it, which made me very happy. "Sure! That'd be awesome! I'm sure I'd learn better from you than I would from teachers, anyways." He flashed his 1000 watt smile, and I melted again. This guy just had that affect on me, and I couldn't control it.

After a few moments of just sitting there and staring at him, I finally remembered that we had to complete that chemistry assignment that was on the board. I turned back to the board and started reading the directions, pulling out all the necessary materials. Everybody else was already hard at work on their assignments, so we were way behind.

After I told him what all the ingredients were, Perry was diligent at measuring them perfectly and then adding them to the beaker. We worked so well together that we were done before everyone else, even though everyone else started way before us. The teacher came over and inspected our concoction, and, as usual, gave us an A+.

With the class period only about half way over, Perry and I had nothing to do but just sit there. Which was nice, because I was able to talk to him while the other kids were still busy, so no one could bother us.

"So," I began, "when do you want to start the tutoring thing?"

"We can start whenever you're free!" he said excitedly.

"Well, as you can see, I'm the most popular kid in this school." I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "I might have to clear up my schedule just to fit you in."

"Ha ha, very funny." He smiled. I just could not get enough of that smile. "Well, I'm going to that party later today, so maybe we can start tomorrow?"

My spirits deflated a little at the mention of the party, and I know Perry noticed because his smile also faded a little. But he didn't say anything. "Yea, tomorrow sounds awesome."

He looked at me sympathetically, but it was only for a brief moment. "Okay! Awesome! I can't wait!" And he smiled at me again. And I lifted a little bit, because of that damn smile. I couldn't help but smile back at his enthusiasm.

Then, the bell rang, and it seemed as if my paradise had shattered. We were brought back to reality as his "friends" from first hour came over and swept him away. He tried to turn back and say bye, which I commend his efforts, but he was unsuccessful. I heard little murmurs of what they were saying, which was along the typical lines of, "Why were you hanging out with that (insert hateful word for gay here)." I ignored it though, as I knew tomorrow he would be all mine, and we could talk and laugh and have fun without all these annoying people around.

I retained that sentiment all the way till lunch, and it made me happier than I'd been in a long time. It was weird, though. Falling so hard for a guy I'd just met. I guess it was just the fact that he accepted me for who I was, and didn't taunt me for it. That was something no straight guy had ever done, and I was latching onto it for all it was worth. And it made me happy. But, like I said before, I didn't want to make a move or anything like that. For right now, I was perfectly content with just being friends.

At lunch, I was sitting alone, which wasn't necessarily part of the fact no one wanted to sit with me, it was just something I liked to do. I usually ate lunch in the courtyard outside, or really anyplace outside. It gave me time to think, and at this moment, I decided it would be really important if I actually started thinking about my classes, instead of just Perry.

But of course, fate always had a way of making that impossible.

"Heinz!" I heard Perry's voice shout to me. I turned around and saw him with his posse again (it really just looked like a bunch of girls fawning over him and a bunch of jealous boyfriends). But they all paused to stare at him strangely, then tried to pull him away from me.

He shrugged them off, though, looking like he said he would catch up with them later or something. He ran over to me, and plopped comically in the seat next to mine, bumping me in the shoulder as he did so.

"So, whatchya eatin'?" he asked.

"Oh, you know. Meat that doesn't really look like meat and fruit that's been in the freezer for a billion years. But hey, that's school food." I smiled.

He smiled back. "You know, back in New York, we had the best lunches. Our tuition paid for a catering business. We had lasagna and chicken, Caesar salad, it was amazing."

"Well aren't you lucky." I joked. But I noticed that he had no lunch. "Are you gonna get something to eat? Or has your New York gourmet eating trained your taste buds to hate unidentifiable food?"

He laughed. "No, my friends over there," he pointed to the posse, "were gonna take me out to eat. Show me this new restaurant that just opened up. "Chez Platypus" or something like that. Weird name for a restaurant, if you ask me."

"Oh," I said. "Have fun, then. I'm sure the food there is definitely better than here, no matter how weird the name sounds." I tried to sound like it didn't hurt me, but he saw right through it. He must have gone to a school of theatre or something, because he was really good at reading me. I'd have to ask him about it later.

"Well, do you want to tag along?" he asked. I know the question was asked with good intentions, but he must've known what the answer would be. I mean, go to a lunch with the majority of the people who pick on you uninvited. Really smart thinking.

"Haha, no," I laughed awkwardly, trying not to sound too disappointed. "That's alright. You can go. I'll just stay here." I smiled sadly.

I was surprised that he actually looked deflated. "Oh..." The single syllable made me regret that I'd said no, but it's not like I could change my position. But then, he surprised me even more. "Wait here a second."

Before I could respond, he was back over to his friends, talking to them about something. They looked at him in disgust for a moment, then one of the guys said something to him, and then, the group started leaving. But Perry wasn't going with them. Instead, he got in the lunch line, and bought his lunch. Then, he came back over and sat next to me.

"W-What was that?" I asked, not bothering to hide my surprise.

"Well, I find you better company than any of them." he said, with a sincere and honest smile on his face. It made my heart catch in my throat. "Plus, I figure it's never too late to learn to eat unidentifiable lunch food." As he said this, he took a large bite of the meat that was on his tray, and the look that came over his face was priceless. It scrunched up briefly, then trying to hide the fact that the food was horrible, he put on a fake smile, and put both thumbs up. "It's not so bad."

All I could do was laugh at him.

Unfortunately, I didn't have any more classes with Perry, but after lunch, I didn't think I'd be able to handle any more of him. He was all I thought about for the rest of the day, and I didn't stop thinking about him when I went home. I went to bed happy for the first time in a while, because I knew that someone had finally sent me an angel, and I would be an idiot if I ever let that angel go.

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><p>AN: Thanks for reading! Comments and critiques are always appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Phineas and Ferb © Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh

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><p>The next morning when I woke up, all I could think about was Perry. That's all the had been on my mind since I first laid eyes on him, and I couldn't stop thinking about him. So, after taking a very cold shower, I got dressed in the best looking clothes I could that wouldn't make it seem I was trying to hard. I hopped down the stairs with glee, told my parents what I would be doing tonight, then set off for school in the happiest mood I'd been in in a long time.<p>

Tonight was the night I was going over Perry's house. I was going to spend all day with him at school and then I was going to spend most of the night with him. It was a huge victory in the quest to spend every waking minute with him. Yea, sure, we'd be doing tutoring as well, but that seemed infinitesimal to the fact that I would get to be alone with him, without anybody else around to bother us.

Perry caught me right before I was about to enter the school. We had arrived at the same time, but I failed to notice him walking right behind me. He sped up quickly in front of me, and grabbed the handle on the door. He bent into a mock-bow, saying "After you, Heinz." God, he was such a gentleman.

I returned the mock-bow in a 'thank you' way, and walked in the door. He came in right behind me, and we started heading for our lockers. As usual, he was already flashing that amazing smile. "And how are you on this beautiful Tuesday morning?"

I glanced outside quickly to check the weather, as I had been so preoccupied with thoughts of Perry that I hadn't noticed what it was. I saw that it was indeed very sunny, as if the gods were wishing me good luck. I was happy for this.

"I'm very fine, thank you." I said, still mocking that gentleman tone. "And how about you?"

"It is a grand day to be alive, I think," he said. His enthusiasm overwhelmed me, and I found myself wondering where he had been all my life.

Eventually, I reached my locker, and I had so say goodbye to him for the time being, as his locker was upstairs. Yea, I'd see him in a few minutes because we had first period together, but that didn't make those few minutes any less painful.

We met up again in first hour, and Perry sat next to me like he had the day before. Unfortunately, the guy who invited him to the party sat on his other side, and they were wrapped up in conversation about the party up until we had to pay attention to the teacher, so I didn't get to talk to him. I was disappointed, but just being next to him made my day a little brighter.

God, I sounded like the sappiest person alive.

Second hour was a blur again. If I continued to do that, I would have to repeat the class. But it didn't matter. Who needed to know Spanish verb conjugations anyways.

Third hour science finally arrived, and not a minute too soon, if you ask me. Perry still came in with his posse, but as soon as he walked into the room, he immediately ignored them and smiled at me. He then came over and sat down in his seat, without saying another word to his other friends. While this made me extremely happy, I couldn't help but notice the glares I was getting from the other people. I wondered briefly if they were jealous, or if they thought I had brainwashed Perry. Who knew...

The teacher walked in a few minutes later, and the entire class quieted down. He gave a short lecture, then wrote some directions on the board for a lab we were supposed to complete. I looked at Perry and surprisingly, instead of the confused face I expected to see, he was already smiling back at me.

"Ready to get started, partner?" he asked jokingly.

I nodded happily. "Let's do this!"

It was the same deal as the day before: I told Perry all the ingredients and he measured them perfectly. Since this was a lab to see which chemicals burned which colors, I grabbed several Q-tips and wet them down. I then took one and dipped the end into one of the chemicals Perry had measured. I then took the Q-tip and placed it in the fire of the Bunsen burner. Right before our eyes, the fire raged a bright green color. The beauty of it reminded me that this was why I loved science so much.

I looked over at Perry, and he was mesmerized by the flame as well. He noticed me looking at him, and he just looked back at me and smiled, sticking his thumb up. I smiled back.

I told Perry he could have the next one if he wanted, and he gladly accepted. He dipped the wet Q-tip into the chemical and stuck it in the flame, just as I had. This time, it burned a lilac color, and was even more beautiful than the green. Perry and I smiled at each other again, knowing just how cool this experiment was.

We continued like that through the rest of the chemicals, alternating which person got to dip it in. Some chemicals burned bright red, others burned yellow, and some didn't even change color. But like the day before, Perry and I finished first, so we had a lot of time to just sit and talk while everybody else finished their labs.

"That was really cool!" Perry said excitedly. "If I had known chemistry could be this awesome, I would've tried to study it harder!"

"Well, that's why I'm tutoring you. So you can see the amazing wonders of the universe!" I paused. "Or maybe just so you can get the formulas for the gas laws right."

He laughed. "Now I remember why I'm not good at chemistry."

"Hey! The gas laws are important! Chemistry isn't all fun and games, you know! It's hard work!"

He sighed. "Yea, I know..." Then, he suddenly got this really determined look on his face. "And if I'm gonna be the best spy in the world, I have to learn all I can!"

His enthusiasm about the subject was as addicting as ever, and I was drawn in again. He could be the best spy in the whole world. And I would do anything to help him achieve his dream.

"So," I asked hesitantly, "when should I come over?"

He snapped back into reality, and he looked slightly embarrassed about spacing out. But he smiled at me and answered, "Anytime after school is fine. In fact, we can walk to my house together, if you want. It's not that far."

I nodded. "Okay, sounds like a plan! I'll meet you by your locker and we can walk to your house together."

He put his thumb up. "Awesome!"

The bell rang after that, so Perry and I grabbed our things and walked out of the room together. We said goodbye to each other, and he headed to his next class while I headed in the opposite direction to mine. History class. While it wasn't my favorite class, I was one of the unusual ones who actually enjoyed history. It felt like it was all a big story, and it was continuing to be written today.

I hoped to one day make an impact on the world; to be remembered in the history books. Then, all the kids like me would have someone to look up to. I would be their role model...

Anyways, Perry and I met up again for lunch. This time, he was at the table before I was, and he waved me over. He told me all his other friends had gone out to lunch again, and it gave me this warm feeling to know that he skipped out on them to be with me, eating incredibly inedible lunch food instead of the excellent meals they served at restaurants.

But I couldn't shake the feeling that we were getting glares from every single corner of the lunch room. According to the social hierarchy of high school, Perry and I shouldn't be friends. But we were. And we were really good friends at that. But why did Perry choose me over his other, more popular friends. Surely he would have gained more by hanging out with them. I couldn't figure it out.

I must've had a frustrated look on my face, because when I looked up, Perry was staring at me with concern in his features.

"Hey Perry?" I started hesitantly, "can I ask you something?"

A brief look of surprise crossed his face, but he went back to that concerned look quickly. "Sure, anything."

"Why did you choose me?"

"Huh?" he asked, confusion now on his face. "What do you mean?"

I sighed and looked away. "I mean, why do you hang out with me? Wouldn't you be better off ignoring me, and hanging out with your other friends?"

I saw a look of hurt cross his face as I looked back at him, and it made me instantly regret even asking the question. "Do you really think I'm that shallow?" he asked, getting somewhat defensive.

"What? No!" I said quickly, hoping that I didn't ruin the one good friendship I had. "I guess... I guess I'm just wondering what's so good about me? What's so good about me that you would want to hang out with me instead of them?"

He laughed. "Idiot."

I snapped my head up. "Huh?"

"Idiot," he repeated, smiling at me. "You seriously need to stop being so down on yourself. You're never gonna find a good man if you're like that."

I sighed. "How can I stop? This place is where self-confidence goes to die."

"Then make your own," he said. "You don't need to listen to what these people tell you, you'll probably never see most of them ever again. And to be perfectly honest, if you do see them, it's going to be when they're working for you at the best science and research facility in the whole world. And they're gonna say, 'Hey, I wish I'd been nicer to that kid.' High school isn't the world. There's a bigger world out there just waiting for you to find it."

All I could do was stare at him in disbelief. Then, as the words began to sink in, I could feel tears forming in my eyes. I had to look away as they threatened to fall. This feeling I was getting - this feeling of acceptance, warmth, and love - was something people, not even my own parents, and given to me for a long time. And here was this boy I just met yesterday making me feel this way. This overwhelmed me, and I had a very hard time trying to keep the tears from falling.

Suddenly, I felt something rest on the top of my hand. When I looked up, I saw that Perry had placed his hand over mine, and was staring at me with concern. "Hey, I didn't mean to make you cry..."

I quickly pulled my hand out and looked away. I wiped the tears off my face with the heel of my palm, sniffling slightly as I did so. I then let out a small laugh and said, "No, it's not your fault. I'm just being a baby." When I felt confident that my face was free of all snot and tears, I looked back up at Perry, and saw that he was smiling at me.

"Don't worry about it," he then handed me one of the napkins from his tray. I smiled and took it, using it to make sure my nose would stop running. He continued, saying, "By the way, to answer your original question, I hang out with you more than them because they're all a bunch of idiots. Seriously. At least I can have an intelligent conversation with you. All they want to talk about is high school drama. Not really my thing."

I laughed, placing the napkin Perry gave me on my tray. "Thanks..." I paused. "I'm sorry I got all deep like that. Having a friend like you is something I haven't had in a while. It's just gonna take some getting used to..."

"Like I said, don't worry about it. I understand it must feel weird having someone actually accept you for who you are. But I tell you, it really pisses me off when people bully other people just for being different. I just wish there was something more I could do to change it..."

"No, you've done enough already," I said honestly. "Thanks for just being my friend."

He smiled. "You're welcome."

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><p>AN: Thanks for reading! Comments and critiques are always appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Phineas and Ferb © Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh

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><p>For the rest of the day, I couldn't stop kicking myself for breaking down in front of Perry like that. What really bothered me was that I didn't know what the heck caused it. I'm usually pretty confident about myself and my situation, so I tend to just shut out the bullying. But when Perry showed me compassion... well... I guess I'm just not used to that emotion yet.<p>

I went through my last classes trying to calm myself down, and preparing myself for going over Perry's house. I didn't want to seem to eager, but at the same time, I didn't want to seem like I didn't want to be tutoring Perry. I also had to prepare myself for meeting his family. I was really hoping to make a good first impression.

When I got out of my last period class, I sprinted to my locker, retrieved all the books I would need for tonight, and sprinted upstairs to meet Perry at his locker, like we had planned. When I got up there, I saw he was waiting for me. When he saw me, he waved me over, smiling. "Hey Heinz! You ready to go?"

"Yea," I replied. "Let's go!"

We walked side by side down the stairs, and out the front doors. All the buses were there, picking up kids to take them home. The scene was rather chaotic as all the kids ran to their buses, and I got pushed around a lot trying to keep up with Perry. Eventually, we were free of the crowd, and we continued walking down the drive and out onto the street.

As we were walking, a random question popped into my mind. "Hey Perry?" I began hesitantly. "I was just wondering, but do you have a license?"

He laughed. "Yea, I have a license. But I live so close to school, that there's no point in driving. Better for the environment, anyways."

I nodded. "Do you live on this street?"

"Yep. It's kind of nice being within walking distance. That's what I loved about New York - everything was within walking distance. The restaurants, the shops, everything"

I noticed the way his eyes lit up whenever he talked about New York. I started to wonder if he liked New York better than here, but I was too afraid to ask. I almost didn't want to hear the answer.

Instead, I nodded, and looked at the street ahead, surveying all the houses. The trees that lined the street made it look sort of like a tunnel, the sunlight shining through beautifully in random spots. The houses were quaint, not to big, not to small. It seemed like a nice place to live.

"Which house is yours?" I asked.

"That red one over on the right," he pointed down the street. "It's not much, but it's home." He smiled.

"To be honest, that sounded pretty cliché," I teased.

"Yea," he laughed. "I know."

When we reached the house, I could already hear the frenzied movement going on inside. When Perry opened the door, we had to move out of the way because a small, helicopter-like device flew past us, followed by two boys. The red-haired boy turned around and yelled, "Hey Perry!" before continuing to follow the device. The green-haired boy simply nodded.

"Haha," he nervously laughed, "sorry 'bout my brothers. They're kind of eccentric with their ideas."

"It's fine," I replied. "I think it's cool!"

He smiled back. "Yea, I also have a sister too. Her name's Candace. She actually goes to the high school, but she refuses to have anything to do with me while we're at school. You might have seen her, she's got long, reddish-orange hair and she usually wears a red top and white skirt."

I nodded. I had seen her before, many times in fact, passing in the hallways and whatnot. But she and Perry didn't even seem like they could be related. Their personalities seemed so different. Then I realized Perry and I had never really talked about our families before. In fact, we hardly knew anything about the other's personal life. I hardly even knew him...

Perry snapped me out of my thoughts by ushering me inside and leading me to the kitchen, where two people - I assumed they were his parents - were sitting. His mom noticed us first, greeting us warmly. "Hi Perry! Who's your friend?"

"Mom, dad, this is Heinz Doofenshmirtz, my friend from school."

"Oh! So this is the famous Heinz you've been talking about so much!" his dad exclaimed in a thick British accent, which surprised me. He came over and shook my hand, like I was a friend he hadn't seen in a while instead of a stranger. "It's nice to finally meet you!"

I smiled back, then looked at Perry. He was rolling his eyes. He came forward and pushed me out of his dad's grip, continuing to lead me out of the kitchen. "Okay, we have to go study! See you guys later!"

We walked out of the kitchen towards a staircase leading upstairs. Upstairs, there was a hallway that connected to all the bedrooms. Perry led me to the third door on the right, his bedroom, and we walked in. He threw his backpack - none to gently - on the floor. He pulled out his necessary items from the backpack, and walked over to his desk. I set my backpack down more gently next to his, and sat down on his bed because there were no other chairs in the room. But I wasn't complaining.

"Okay," he said. "So what do you want to start with first?"

"I thought we'd start with the basics." I replied. "Simply naming the compounds."

"Joy." he said sarcastically.

"Hey, you have to learn the fundamentals before you can play the game." I said.

"I know... Okay! Let's do this!"

I taught him the basic lesson of how to name compounds - the three groups, the prefixes, etc. I actually amazed myself at how well I could teach it. Perry did have some trouble at first, but then he started to understand it. We got through it, and by the end, Perry was naming compounds like a pro.

"Haha, thanks so much, Heinz," he said, somewhat nervously. "For some reason, I learn it better from you than I do from a teacher. Maybe you just explain it in a way that makes sense."

"You're welcome. Glad I could help!"

There was a slight silence as Perry continued to work on some more problems. I eventually broke the silence with, "I like your family. They're nice."

He smiled. "You haven't met my sister yet."

"I'm sure she's fine." I smiled. Then, I remembered the question I had wanted to ask. "So, is your dad from England? He had a pretty thick British accent."

"Haha, yea." he replied, laughing. "Ferb, my brother with the green hair, is too. But he doesn't talk much."

"Wait, so your dad and your brother are British, but you're not? How does that work?"

"Oh, my mom got remarried when we were little. She had me, Candace, and Phineas, then she married my dad, who had Ferb. Then we became one big, happy family!" He smiled.

For some reason, I was surprised Perry could tell that story with a smile on his face. Families with step-parents were supposed to be broken, right? But Perry's family had seemed so normal. I mean, if Perry's dad hadn't started talking to me in a British accent, I would have never known. Maybe I was just being stereotypical...

"By the way, what were your brothers doing? What they were flying around was nothing I'd ever seen before," I said conversationally.

"Oh, they probably made it themselves," Perry said without even looking up from his homework. He said it so nonchalantly that it made it sound like this happened a lot. Two elementary school boys making a toy that could fly? I didn't believe it.

I said as much to him. "How can two boys that young build a flying toy that works?"

He finally looked up from his work, surprised that I had asked such a question. But then he realized who he was talking to, and quickly explained. "They're geniuses. I don't know how they do it, they just do. But that flying toy isn't doesn't even scratch the surface of what they can do. They're just doing that to keep themselves busy between homework and school. In the summer, when they have more free time, they build inventions of monumental proportions. They built a roller-coaster through downtown Manhattan once. It was amazing."

I stared at him in disbelief. There was no way two boys, even grown up men, could build a roller-coaster through downtown Manhattan. "You're kidding, right? This is some kind of practical joke."

He laughed. "No! I'm serious! You wanna go meet them? I bet you'd love them, the way you love science so much."

"Yes, I want to meet them. There's no way any of what you just said could be possible."

"I beg to differ."

We walked downstairs. It was about 7 o'clock at night, and Perry's brothers were still flying their toy around the house. When they noticed us, they came over to us, remote control still in hand. "Hi Perry! Who's your friend?" the red-haired one, Phineas, asked.

"Phineas, Ferb, I want you to meet my new friend Heinz. He's tutoring me in Chemistry." Perry introduced me.

"Nice to meet you, Heinz!" Phineas said. "I'm Phineas, and this is Ferb," he gestured to the green-haird boy, who smiled. "Thanks for helping our brother with Chemistry!"

"Haha, you're welcome!" I laughed. "So, Perry tells me you guys build amazing inventions. Can I see one?"

"Sure!" Phineas said excitedly. He and Ferb went upstairs for a moment while Perry and I continued to wait downstairs. I glanced at him, and he had a huge smirk on his face. I still wouldn't believe him until I saw proof.

The boys came down a minute later with a huge stack of blueprints in their hands. Phineas handed them to me and said, "Here are some blueprints for things we've built and things we want to build. We don't have the actual inventions because for some reason they all keep disappearing. We don't know how, but it sure helps with the cleanup."

I smiled at Phineas to humor him, and then I looked at the blueprints. I took one out of the pile and set the rest on the floor, and opened it up. Then, my jaw dropped. I happened to pick the one with the roller-coaster on it. But everything on the blueprint was as accurate as if they were professional engineers who had many years of experience. The math was correct, the physics of the structure was all correct, and the way they calculated it to fit into Manhattan was also correct. There wasn't a number or a variable out of place. Anybody could build a roller-coaster in Manhattan with these blueprints.

I looked at Phineas and Ferb in disbelief. "You guys built this?"

Phineas smiled excitedly. "Yea! It was really fun! I actually have a picture of that one..." he searched through his pile of blueprints until he found a white piece of paper with a picture on it. It was Phineas and Ferb on the roller-coaster, with a black-haired girl sitting behind them. But in the background, unmistakably, was the Empire State Building.

I turned to Perry, who was still smirking at me. "Well?"

"Alright," I said. "You win.

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><p>AN: Thanks for reading! Comments and critiques are always appreciated!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Phineas and Ferb © Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh

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><p>After learning that Perry's brothers were secretly genius engineers trapped in little bodies, it was time to go home. The sun was already starting to set over our little town as it slowly got later and later. By the time I had said goodbye to Perry's family, it was already 9 o'clock. Time just flew by.<p>

Perry walked me to the front door after I had said goodbye to everybody else. He smiled at me and said, "Well, thanks for everything! You really are a great tutor!"

I laughed. "You're welcome. It's no big deal. Whenever you need help, just ask."

He nodded. "Alright, I will." He then paused, as if he remembered something, then asked, "Hey, do you need a ride home? I don't see your parents out there."

"Oh, haha..." I laughed nervously. Nobody was coming to pick me up. "It's okay. I'll just walk home. I don't live to far from here either." Truth was I lived at least two miles, if not more, down the road - a long distance to be walking in the dark. But I didn't want Perry to know that. I didn't want to trouble him or his family more than I already had.

He eyed me suspiciously, like he knew what I was thinking, but he didn't say anything about it. He simply smiled and said, "Alright, if you say so. See you at school, then?"

"Yea, see you then!"

With that, I waved goodbye, and watched as he closed the door behind me. I turned around and started walking down the driveway and onto the street. I began the long trek home, the sun already set. It was dark out, but there was still a tiny bit of light so that I could see where I was going. I simply put my hands in my pockets and became lost in my thoughts.

I began to feel sort of bad for not allowing Perry to take me home. First of all, it meant that I would be able to spend more time with him. Secondly, I think he wanted to repay me for helping him with his Chemistry. I think he felt like he was asking to much of me, and wanted to do something in return. But I didn't let him.

I didn't want him to see my house.

It's not like our house is a huge mess or anything. There isn't 5-inch tall grass or junk in the front yard. It's just a normal suburban house, like any other on the street. Maybe it wasn't so much the house I didn't want him to see. Maybe it was the people inside the house that I didn't want him to meet. I didn't want them to take away the only light I have in my life. They don't want me to be happy. Simply because I'm different...

_HONK!_

I was so lost in my thoughts that I nearly jumped out of my skin when a car came up behind me. I didn't even notice that I was already about a mile down the road. I turned around to see who it was, but the headlights were so bright I couldn't see in the driver's seat. When the car pulled up next to me, a voice shouted out the window, "'You can just walk home,' huh?"

That voice only belonged to one person.

"Perry?" I shouted, walking up to his car window, placing my hands on the door. "What are you doing here?"

"I felt really bad leaving you out to walk alone at night. So even if it was just 50 more feet, I was gonna drive you home. Seems like you live a lot farther away than that."

I hope he couldn't see the embarrassed blush that appeared on my face. "Yea," I laughed nervously. "I didn't want to trouble you and your family more than I already had." Lie. "I'm sorry."

He smiled. "No, it's cool. It's no trouble at all. Next time, don't be so stupid! Just ask!" He flicked my forehead, as if he was reprimanding me. I couldn't help but laugh. "C'mon," he said, hitting the passenger's seat next to him, "get in."

I did as I was told, running over to the other side of the car and getting in. I told him to keep going straight, so he shifted the car out of park and we were off. It was relatively silent for most of the trip, except for when I had to tell him which way to turn. It was a tense silence, almost like he was offended about me lying to him. I wondered if he knew that there was something I didn't want him to see.

When we were about a block from my house, I told him to stop, telling him to let me off here. "Is this your house?" he asked.

I already felt bad about lying the first time, so I couldn't lie to him again. "No."

"So then why are we stopping here?"

"It's just-"

"Do you not want your parents to know me?"

"No! I just-"

"Did I do something wrong? Am I really that terrible?"

"No, it's not that at all! It's that-"

"Because if I did something wrong, then you should just-"

"Perry!" I shouted.

He stopped talking, and stared at me, his eyes wide. I paused for a second, taking a deep breath. I put my hand on his, and said, "You did nothing wrong at all. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. It's just that I don't want my parents to see you because I don't want them... to extinguish my light. I'll introduce them to you someday, but for now, please," I took his hand in mine and looked in his eyes, pleading for him to understand, "just let me off here."

His eyes were still wide when I finished, but he slowly began to nod, the shock leaving his face after a few moments. "Okay," he said. "I'll let you out here for now, but please tell me you're going to talk to me about this. If there's something wrong, please let me help you."

I nodded, breathing a sigh of relief. "I will, I promise. Thank you so much." I smiled at him, hoping it conveyed at least a fraction of the immense gratitude I had for him at that moment.

"You know, you're still a mystery to me, Heinz," he laughed to himself. "I'll figure you out someday, though." he smiled encouragingly. "Go on, then. You're house awaits."

I nodded, jumping out of the car. Perry drove into the driveway of the house we had stopped at, turning around to go the other way. He rolled down his window and yelled, "Be careful, okay! If a murderer comes out and kills you, don't blame me for it!"

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind!" I yelled back, smiling. It made me feel warm inside to know that he cared so much.

I waved to Perry, watching him drive away until he was out of sight. I then turned around and started walking the last block or so to my house. Luckily, it only took a couple of minutes, but when I reached my house, the lights were still on, which kind of dampened my spirits a little bit.

I cautiously approached my house, trying to be as quiet as possible. My parents knew where I was going to be, but I told them I would be home by 8:30. Checking my watch, I saw it was already 10 o'clock. It was not going to be a pretty sight if I got caught.

I walked up to the front door, opening it as quietly as possible and shutting it the same way. My parents were in the living room, so they couldn't see me. I tried to run up the stairs to my room, but on about the 5th stair from the top, it creaked, signaling to my parents that I was home.

"Heinz?" My mother shouted in her thick German accent. "Is that you?"

"Yes, mutter," I replied obediently, going back downstairs and greeting my parents in the living room.

"Where were you?" She said harshly. "You said you would be home by 8:30. And as I am sure you have noticed, it is not 8:30."

"I was still at my friend's house, helping him with his Chemistry."

"Helping_ him?_" my father interrupted, also with a thick German accent. "This is not one of _those_ kinds of friends, is it?"

"What? No! He's just a friend!" I sounded flustered, which was not a good thing. My father would see right through me. He would know that I liked Perry.

I could feel the anger radiating off my father as he stood up and walked towards me. When he was directly in front of me staring down, he said, "You are lying."

"No, no, no! I'm not! I swear, I-"

"So you disobey your father, and then you lie about it." He said these words calmly, but his eyes were giving away his anger. I was so intent on not breaking his stare that I didn't notice his right hand come up.

He whipped his hand across my face so fast that it took me a few seconds to realize what had even happened. First I felt the sting, then I felt the real pain. There was definitely going to be some sort of bruise there tomorrow...

"Go to your room," he said, his voice calm, but his anger raging. "I forbid you to see this boy or any other boy again. You are to be around either girls, or no one at all. We _will_ break you of this habit of yours." He paused and stared straight into my eyes. "Is that clear?"

I searched his eyes for some sort of hope that he might be kidding, that he might actually accept me, but these were just fantasies. I brought my head down in defeat, "Yes, vater."

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><p>AN: Thanks for reading! Comments and critiques are always appreciated!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Phineas and Ferb © Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh

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><p>The next morning, when I woke up, I felt sick to my stomach. I didn't want to go to school, but I knew that I would be in a bigger world of trouble if I didn't. So I managed to pull myself out of bed and get ready for the day.<p>

Luckily, there was nobody else home, as my mother and father had already left for work - my mother dropping off my brother at day care first. I slowly put my clothes on and forced myself to eat something, even though it felt like I would throw it up. I looked in the mirror and - just as I thought - there was a large bruise right under my left eye. Today was not going to be a good day.

When the bus arrived, I walked on and sat down in my own seat, staring out the window and willing the voices of the other kids on the bus to go away. I wanted to be left alone, in my own little world, away from everything. But when you go to a public school with two thousand other kids, that's physically impossible.

When I got off the bus, I noticed Perry was waiting by the door, searching the crowd of students to try and find me. When I noticed him, I took a hard turn to the right, and hid as much as I could behind a taller boy as we walked into school. I wasn't avoiding him because my father told me to, no, not even he could make me do that. I was avoiding Perry because I didn't want him to ask me what had happened, and where I got the bruise on my face. I didn't want him to be troubled with my problems. These were my burdens, not his.

I managed to get into the school unnoticed, but I felt sort of bad ditching Perry like that. I knew he cared, and knowing that made me feel amazing. I just didn't want to answer his questions or talk to anyone right now.

I waited until the first hour bell rang before I even began walking to my class. I knew Perry would already be in there and class would have already begun, so I wouldn't have to talk to him. When I arrived to the class, I saw that I was right. The worst punishment I got was a glare from the teacher, but other than that, I was allowed to sit in a seat that was away from Perry, even though he was saving me one right next to him. I saw Perry glance at me worriedly, but I forced myself to ignore it.

The class went by slowly, of course. I was hardly paying attention, only glancing up occasionally so it didn't look like I was completely zoning out. When the bell finally rang, I darted out as quickly as possible and headed to my next class, which would pass exactly the same as the first.

During my third hour class, I knew the assigned seating - which was my best friend a few days ago - would now be my worst enemy. I decided to use my "favorite student" card, and asked the science teacher if I could go work on a huge project that was due soon. (Lie, of course.) He said yes with a smile, so I thanked him, and turned to leave. But not before I ran right into Perry.

As soon as I realized who it was, I turned my head away quickly, and started rubbing my cheek to try and hide the bruise. I'm not sure if Perry noticed, but if he did, he didn't say anything.

"So..." he began hesitantly. "Are you ready for some Chemistry today, Heinz?" he asked, trying to be cheerful.

"Actually, I'm going to go work on a project. It's due soon..." I said, still trying to look away. It pained me to see the hurt look on his face.

"Oh... okay..." he said, his eyes now looking everywhere but at me. "I guess I'll... see you later then..."

"Yea, sure."

With that, I quickly walked past him and out of the room, feeling a whole lot worse than before. I wanted to throw up and just get it over with instead of walking around with this sick feeling of nausea that my emotions were giving me. I wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep and just will all my problems away. But I knew that wouldn't work.

Instead of going to the computer lab to work on my imaginary project, I went to the men's bathroom. After making sure nobody was in there, I locked the door and went over to the sink. I placed both my hands on the sink and stared at myself in the mirror. The bruise really did look terrible. I was surprised Perry hadn't mentioned it, after saying he was so keen on helping me the night before.

Then I felt really bad for thinking that. I knew Perry cared - more than anyone had every cared about me, really. He probably didn't mention it because he could tell how bad I was feeling. He didn't want to make me feel worse. He was just looking out for my well-being, and I should be grateful for that.

I turned on the water in the sink and cupped my hands under it, then lifting it up and splashing my face. It felt good. After my entire face was covered in cold water, I turned off the faucet and grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser. While I was drying off my face, I gave myself a little pep talk to try and make myself feel better. It didn't work, but at least I felt confident enough to go back outside.

"I thought you might be in there."

I stopped cold. I turned to face the unmistakable voice, and found Perry there, leaning against the lockers outside the bathroom. He had a concerned smile on his face, trying to make me feel better. It didn't work. I felt more sick to my stomach than I felt before.

I turned and did a 180 in the opposite direction to try and get away, but it didn't work, as Perry stepped right in front of me. "Oh no, you're not getting away that easy." I looked away again, my hand flying to my cheek in an attempt to hide the bruise. It didn't work, as Perry grabbed my wrist and held it. I tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but it was too strong.

"Perry... please..."

"No," he said firmly, looking me right in the eyes. "You're going to tell me who did this to you."

"I-I can't, I-"

"Heinz," he said, and the single word stopped me, "come with me. We don't have to talk about this here. We can go to my house if you'll feel more comfortable."

"I can't. I can't skip school. My father will kill me!" (Literally.)

"Don't worry about it," he said, getting a slight devilish look in his eyes. "You're already skipping science, and we've got lunch next. Nobody will even know we're gone."

I tried so hard to come up with another excuse, but I couldn't. Perry smiled at me, satisfied that he had won, and he led me out to the parking lot. Apparently, he had driven today. So, we got in his car and we went to his house. The ride was quiet. I was lost in my thoughts of how I would explain everything to him, and Perry didn't seem like he wanted to interrupt that.

When we arrived at his house, he parked the car in the driveway, and he led me inside. Nobody was home, so we had the house to ourselves. He led me into the living room, then he went into the kitchen to make us glasses of water. When he came back, he handed me the glass, took a drink of his, then just waited.

"So..." I said awkwardly.

"So..." he repeated. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Do I have a choice?" I asked.

"Not really." He said that with a completely straight face, which meant that he wasn't kidding about this.

I didn't know how to begin, whether I should make an excuse or tell him the truth. Instead, he asked a question first. "Let's start with this: who gave you that bruise? And don't even say you ran into a pole or something stupid like that. That's the oldest excuse in the book."

"But what if that's all it was? Just a stupid mistake?"

"Heinz..."

I looked into his eyes, and I knew that eventually I wouldn't be able to keep skirting around the question. He wasn't going to let it drop. That didn't mean I would stop trying now. "What does it matter? You can't do anything about it."

"Try me."

"Perry, it's not a big deal. I can handle this on my own."

"Heinz," he said, taking my hands in his and looking directly into my eyes. "Why are you so afraid of telling me who did this to you?"

I turned away, and I could feel tears burning in my eyes. I fought them from falling. "Because I don't want you to do something stupid because of this. It's really not that big of a deal."

"Why won't you let me help you?"

"Because I don't need to be helped!" I shouted, pulling my hands away from his and turning my back to him. The tears were falling silently now, and I tried my hardest to stop them, but it wasn't working. I was glad he couldn't see my face.

He hesitated after the outburst, but slowly, Perry reached his hand out and touched my shoulder. I flinched, trying to pull away, but he just kept it there. "I think you do. I think you've become so accustomed to being on your own and figuring things out for yourself that you don't even realize that you desperately crave somebody to help you. You just want somebody to care enough to help you."

He turned me around and pulled me into an embrace. He wrapped his arms around me, one floating up to my head, his fingers gently going through my messy hair. "I want you to know that I care. I care enough to try and help you through any problem you face. I want you to feel comfortable talking to me. I don't want you to have to face all your problems alone."

I was so surprised at first that I didn't even know how to react. But then eventually, I just broke down, burying my face in his chest and just crying. I don't know what it was about Perry, but it seemed like every time I was around him, I ended up crying. It made me embarrassed.

It didn't seem to bother Perry, though. He just sat there, allowing me to cry and get his shirt all wet. He continued to hold me tight until I stopped crying. Eventually, he pulled me away, and looked into my eyes. He cupped my cheeks, wiping away the tears with his thumbs, making sure to be extra careful with the bruise.

He smiled. "So, are you gonna tell me who hurt you?" he asked.

And I told him. I told him it was my father and how my father hated me for who I was and everything he had done to me because of it. And, of course, Perry got angry and sad and he wanted to kill my father, but it was okay. It felt as if a great burden had been lifted. He may not have been able to do anything about my father, but just telling him helped so much - more than he would ever know. It was like we now had a secret, and that was something nobody - especially my father - could take away from me.

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><p>AN: Thanks for reading! Comments and critiques are always appreciated!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Phineas and Ferb © Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh

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><p>People around me usually identified me as "quiet". And they were right. I was always aware of my surroundings, and the audience of the people I was talking to. I wouldn't talk if the person didn't care about what I was saying. And because the number of people who actually cared about what I said was none, I usually remained quiet.<p>

But not with Perry. With him, I knew that he paid extra special attention to every single word I said, even if it was the stupidest thing in the world. I was allowed to just talk, and that freedom meant the world to me.

Perry was the first person to conquer the word barrier that I had unknowingly put up against the world. And because of this, we became better friends than I could have ever hoped for. We talked to each other about everything - school, families, movies - you name it. He knew everything about my life and I knew everything about his. And it felt amazing.

We hung out so much after that. I still helped him with his Chemistry (and some of his other subjects), but I didn't go over his house only for tutoring anymore. I went over there because I wanted to be there, and because ihe/i wanted me to be there. He'd sometimes invite me to dinner with his family, or we'd go to the movies (as friends, of course), or we'd just sit up in his bedroom and talk.

And, of course, people started to notice. At first, it was just glances in the lunch room - people wondering why in the world we were hanging out together. Then, the glances turned into hushed whispers, and then writings on the bathroom wall - the normal progress of these sorts of things in high school.

But nobody had outright teased us yet. Sure, we heard the rumors they were spreading about us, and we received an occasional shoulder-bump in the hallway, but nobody had outright called us on it. I assumed it was because everybody still wanted to be friends with Perry, and they just thought I had done something to Perry to make him hang out with me. It didn't seem to bother Perry though, and his confidence spilled over onto me. It was like it was just us against the world.

My father also took notice. I would sometimes come home super late after spending time at Perry's, and my father would get up out of his chair and ask me where I'd been. I'd tell him that I was with a girl working on our science project. I'd become a lot better at lying to him about Perry, because now Perry was far too valuable to lose. He'd eye me suspiciously, decide I wasn't worth the trouble, then sit back down in his chair, telling me to get out of his sight.

The routine worked well enough for me. Perry kept telling me that I should stand up to my dad, that I should educate him. But I decided he wasn't worth the trouble. This way of going about things was working perfectly well, and the less confrontation I had with my father, the better.

But, unfortunately, through all this, I was finding it harder and harder to keep the fact that I loved Perry a secret. Every single day, he would make me feel like I was the most amazing person in the world. And every single day I would want to just drop it all and shout, "I LOVE YOU, PERRY!". But I couldn't. I didn't want to lose Perry's friendship, and everything he meant to me. So I would wait.

But a couple of weeks later found me and Perry in the Chemistry lab. I had told my science teacher that I was tutoring Perry, and he simply loved the idea. I had asked to borrow the lab for after school, as I felt that Perry had finally graduated to the fun stuff - mixing real chemicals. He quickly said it was fine, as long as he didn't blow anything up. I smiled and told him we wouldn't.

After Perry got all his materials set up, I wrote an equation on the board. "You know what all these chemicals are, now it's time to try mixing them." I told Perry. He smiled wide, his excitement showing on his face as he already started reaching for the designated chemicals.

I watched him, smiling slightly. I then snapped out of it, walking over to his station and sitting next to him. He worked the entire time without looking up, his focus and concentration showing clearly on his features. While it was quiet, I sort of zoned out, and stared off into space. I was only brought back to reality when he slapped the table, shouting, "Done!"

I smiled at him, laughing slightly at his child-like enthusiasm for something so small. He smiled back at me, obviously very proud of his work. But then I glanced down at the work in question, and I did not like what I saw.

It was turning a purplish color, a color that it definitely was not supposed to turn. In fact, it wasn't supposed to turn any color - it was supposed to be clear. My worry must've shown on my face because Perry's smile instantly faded, and he asked me, "Did I do something wrong?"

I nodded slightly, trying not to hurt his feelings. "Umm... It's not supposed to be turning purple. It's supposed to be clear. Show me exactly which chemicals you used."

As he went through every single chemical he had used, we eventually found the one that didn't belong. He had accidently switched the correct chemical with one that was similar in name.

"Uh, Perry..." I started hesitantly. He looked at me quizzically. "I know making mistakes isn't a bad thing, but the chemical you switched in mixed with this one causes the formula to-"

All of a sudden, the formula Perry had mixed was starting to bubble. It wasn't supposed to turn purple and it idefinitely/i wasn't supposed to bubble. It was beginning to bubble so much that the formula was spilling out of the beaker, which was not a good thing.

"Heinz?" Perry asked worriedly. "What do we do about this?"

"Um..." Why now, of all times, did my mind have to completely blank. Ok, Heinz, think. What do we do? "Let's see..." Do we pour it down the drain? No, what if it explodes in the drain, or reacts worse to water... "Unfortunately, I don't think we can do much except let it fizzle out, then wipe it up with a paper towel..."

"Uh, Heinz, I don't think that "fizzle out" plan is going to work. Look." Perry said, pointing to the formula, where the beaker was now shaking violently.

"I don't think this is going to end well..."

"DUCK!" Perry shouted, tackling me to the floor. He landed on top of me, shielding my head with his arms, his head tucked in right next to mine.

As soon as we landed on the floor, the formula exploded, sending shards of glass from the beaker everywhere. Luckily, it was a small explosion, and since there was nothing on the table with the formula except the beaker, there was no major damage.

I could focus on none of this, however, as I was focused on the person that was now situated on top of me.

Even after I was sure that the shards of glass had stopped hitting the floor, Perry was still in the same position, shielding me. But, after a few moments, he started breathing in my ear, and it took me a second to realize that he had started laughing. Eventually, his laughs became louder, and he raised his head to look at me, smiling.

He was so close...

He continued laughing, saying to me, "Only I could be so bad at Chemistry that I would cause an explosion! It's just like in the movies!" I felt his laughs continue to reverberate throughout his body and into mine. I wondered briefly if he knew how much pain this was causing me...

His laughs were beginning to settle down a bit as he said, "Seriously, though, that was the most hilarious thing I've even done!" He then looked down at me, "I guess I need a little more practice before I can be let around the chemicals!" And then, he just smiled.

It was that same 1000-watt smile that he always showed me. The same smile that I had fallen in love with. It was the smile that wasn't judgmental, and it always made me feel better when it was around. It was the smile of Perry, the greatest person I had ever known, and it was the smile of the person I loved.

And _goddammit_, he was just so _close!_

I don't know how it happened, but somehow, I lifted my head, and just like that, our lips met. This kiss I had been waiting so long for had finally come. And the great thing was, Perry was actually kissing me back!

Perry seemed a little hesitant at first, but then he just took over, kissing me with so much passion behind it. He lifted his had up to my hair and ran through it, eventually grasping the back of my neck to try and pull me closer. I tried to lift myself up on my elbow, putting my other hand on his back all in an effort to get closer. All I wanted was him.

And then I heard a muffled gasp, and then it was all over.

It took me a second to register what had happened, but within the span of a second, Perry had jumped up, and was standing in front of me while I was still on the floor. He had his hand covering his mouth and a look of horror on his face.

And then I realized what I'd done.

"Oh, no..." I said quietly. "Perry, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"No... no it's okay" Perry interrupted, his hand still slightly covering his mouth. He refused to look me in the eyes. "I'm just gonna... I'm just gonna go, okay?"

"Perry, I-"

"It's okay," Perry repeated. He then finally looked me in the eye, and that's when he broke down. "I'm sorry..." and with that, he quickly left the room.

My eyes followed him as he left, staying on the door even after he was gone. '_Way to go, Heinz! You may have just jeopardized the only real friend you've ever had!_'

Yea, thanks for reminding me...

I stood up slowly, still kind of refusing to believe that everything had actually happened. But as I looked at the lab table, and the mess of purple-bubbly goo that was on it, I knew that it was real. I just had to go and kiss him, and now because of that, I'd probably lost my best friend. I hated myself.

"Way to go, Heinz," I said quietly to myself, a tear rolling down my cheek as I began to clean up the mess we'd made. "Way to go."

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><p>AN: Thanks for reading! Comments and critiques are always appreciated!


	8. Chapter 8

_'How could you have been so _stupid_! Why did you have to go and kiss him! Everything would have been fine if you had just remained friends. Then you could live your normal life with the greatest person you've ever known. But no, you had to go and kiss him. Now, instead of a friend, you have guilt, sadness, and loneliness to fill the void!'_

These were the kinds of thoughts that ran through my head constantly after the incident. I was a roller-coaster of emotions. I was sad because I'd probably just lost my best friend, I was angry with myself for having to go and kiss him, but most of all, I was confused. I was confused because Perry - even if it was just for a few moments - was kissing me back. And doing a pretty damn good job of it, too.

Did this mean that he liked me back? Or was he just caught up in the moment, sort of like I was, and forgot exactly who he was kissing? It was so hard to tell.

The morning after the incident, I woke up wishing that it was all just a dream. I shut my eyes and imagined, just for a moment, that Perry might not actually hate me. But when I opened them, I knew nothing had changed. I still had the same feeling of dread about the upcoming day, and all I wanted to do was just lay down and go back to sleep. But I got out of bed and prepared myself for whatever might face me.

This time, when I stepped off the bus after we'd arrived at school, Perry was not waiting for me. I ghosted through the halls, probably giving off I-will-kill-you-if-you-touch-me vibes because everybody gave me at least 3 feet of clearance through the halls.

When the first period bell rang, I was standing just outside the door, taking deep breaths trying to calm myself. I almost wanted to just say "Hell with it!" and skip, but then the school would tell my father, and I'd be in a whole other world of trouble with him. I really didn't feel like having two people hate me. So, I gave myself a little pep-talk, and in I went.

And there he was. His teal hair was falling into his face, and he was leaning back in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest. While he may have looked nonchalant, his face said otherwise. He was clearly in deep thought, and whatever that thought was, it was frustrating him. But then he looked up, and our eyes met, and time stopped.

We just stared. Everything else in the room - Perry's other friend talking his ear off, the girls in the corner gossiping, the teacher trying to read the announcements - all of it disappeared. I tried to convey to him that I was so, so sorry. He just had the sad look on his face, almost like he was scared. But of what, I don't know.

And then, time moved forward again, and all the noise came back. I suddenly got a massive headache, so I went and sat down in the farthest seat away from Perry. I think what we both needed right now was some space and some time to think. The last thing I wanted right now was a confrontation.

First hour passed slowly, second hour passed slowly, and by the time they were done, it felt like the day should have already been over. But, of course, it wasn't, so I had to deal with science with Perry.

I went in early to ask the teacher if I could switch lab partners. My teacher just gave me a confused look, asking if there was anything wrong as we had been best friends the day before. I said yes, but asked him if I could just not talk about it right now. He nodded, and thankfully, switched our lab partners.

I became lab partners with a girl I didn't particularly know, but she had never teased me or anything, so I assumed she was alright. Perry didn't seem surprised when our teacher told him we'd switched lab partners, and he turned around and gave me what I think was a 'thank you' nod. Well, that was a good sign.

My partner was quiet, and I really didn't feel like talking, so we finished the lab quickly and efficiently. Granted, my brain wasn't there half the time, but the other girl was smart, so she got us through it. I occasionally glanced up at Perry, who got paired with one of his other friends. He wasn't touching any of the chemicals, and he looked sick. It hurt me to know that I was the cause of that pain.

At lunch, I was sitting by myself again. Perry had gone out to eat with his posse, finally getting to go to that new "Chez Platypus" restaurant. I decided to sit outside in the grass, thinking that a little fresh air would do me some good. It relaxed me a bit, but it didn't make my problems go away.

After school, I was so bored. Tutoring Perry and just hanging out with him was what filled up most of my evenings, but now, I didn't have anything to do. I tinkered with some equipment for a while, but eventually, I just laid down, finding nothing else better to do than go to sleep.

A couple of weeks passed by like this. Perry and I never interacted with each other once. We avoided each other in the halls, in class, at lunch, everywhere. After school, I stayed up in my room, hardly coming downstairs - even to eat dinner. My parents were fine with that, until one day my father had a bad day at work, and he thought that I was losing all my muscle from not eating. Because I had so much to begin with.

I was up in my room lying on my bed when I heard him shouting, "Heinz! Come down and eat! You're going to turn into a scrawny schnitzel!"

I knew I probably should have listened, if only for my own good, but instead I said, "I'm not hungry!"

"I don't care!" my father shouted back. "Your mutter made delicious food and you will eat it!"

"I don't feel like eating, vater! Just leave me alone!"

There was a pause, and I thought for a second that my father may have backed down. But then I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and next thing I knew, my father was opening my bedroom door. He stood there, a look on his face that said he was not happy. I immediately sat up. I was legitimately scared. "What did you say?" he spat out.

"I said I'm not feeling well, so I'm not hungry," I hoped he would just leave it at that, and that he would actually care that I was not feeling well. Maybe even ask me what was wrong like a normal parent. But no. I didn't get the luxury of a 'normal' parent.

"I don't care if you throw it all up later. You are going to come downstairs and you are going to eat your mother's food."

"No. I said I'm not hungry." It was as if I had a death wish.

My father moved in so he was standing over me, looking very intimidating. He then grabbed my upper arm and pulled me up so I was standing in front of him. He then started dragging me towards the door. I realized what was going on, and I struggled as hard as I could to get out of his grip. It worked, and I ran back to the bed as soon as I was free.

I swear, I didn't want to commit suicide. I just wanted to be alone, and dealing with my father's bad mood was something that I did not want to do right now. For some reason, I wasn't even thinking about how my father would react.

"Is this how a man is supposed to act?" he said. His voice was low and appeared calm, but that was when you knew he was seething. "Like an emotional child?"

"What, is it wrong for a man to have emotions?" I yelled. I was finally being pushed over the edge. I was tired of dealing with my father's crap all the time. I was going to stand up for myself. "Because I'd rather have emotions than be angry all the time, like you!"

"Excuse me?" he was crossing the room now. I knew I was going to come out of this with some war wounds, but I still wasn't going to back down.

"God, I'm tired of dealing with your shit all the time!" I yelled, surprised at myself for just swearing at my father. "You have a bad day at work, you take it out on me. If I'm feeling bad about something, you don't try and help me, you make it worse. And most of all, you never loved me. The minute I said I was gay," he cringed, "you acted like I didn't exist, and focused all your attention on Roger!"

"Because he is a true man! A true man can never love another man. The world wasn't made to work that way."

"Well, I do love another man," I said, somewhat relieved to finally get it off my chest. "And I love him with everything I have! So what if he's a guy? He's the most wonderful guy in the entire world, and I would do anything for him, which is more than you can say about you and mother!"

When I stopped my rampage, a silence cut through the air. I stared at my father, and he stared back at me. He showed no emotion, so I couldn't tell what he was thinking. But then the silence was broken by him shattering the world around me.

"You are leaving." he simply said.

...What?

"I don't care what your mother or the neighbors say. I tried to give you a chance and make you see how wrong you were, but you didn't take it. Instead, you continue to disobey me. So, you have 30 minutes to pack up essentials and leave. I don't ever want to see your filthy face again." And with that, he was gone.

I just sat there on the bed, not knowing what to do. I wanted to cry, but I knew I didn't have enough time for that. So I stood up, got the biggest duffel bag I could find out of my closet, and packed up all my clothes.

I was homeless. I had no place to go. None of my relatives lived close by, and I kissed the only friend I had and made him hate me. So, I had two options: 1) Sleep in the street or 2) Go to Perry's house and beg him to let me stay the night. The street was looking pretty good right about now...

I sighed, knowing what I had to do. I grabbed my pillow and blanket off my bed, slung the duffel bag over my shoulder, and walked downstairs. I said goodbye to my brother, and then, without another word or goodbye from my 'parents', left my house forever.

As I trudged the two miles to my destination, the duffel bag weighing more and more with each step, I thought about what I could say to Perry to make him forgive me. None of my attempts were good, however. I just ended up sounding stupid.

When I finally walked up to his door, it was around 9 o'clock at night. The sun had already gone down, so it was dark outside. I stood on the welcome mat outside his door, and took a deep breath. But when I finally got enough courage to ring to doorbell, the door swung open, revealing a messy head of teal hair and a very surprised face.

And my mind had to pick this moment to totally go blank.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Phineas and Ferb © Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh

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><p>"Uhmm... Heh heh..." <em>Smooth, Heinz.<em>

"Umm... Heinz... W-what are you doing here?" Perry asked tentatively.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. "Well, haha, funny story, umm-"

"Heinz!" Perry's mom suddenly appeared in the doorway, all bright and cheerful like she usually is. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you in forever!"

I tried to focus all my energy into telling Ms. Flynn the story, trying to do my best to ignore Perry so I could actually speak a coherent sentence. "Well, Ms. Flynn... I got kicked out..." My voice wavered on the last part, the reality of it finally hitting me. I almost had to sit down.

Ms. Flynn noticed right away, and immediately stepped outside, grabbed what little belongings I was carrying, and swept me into the house. It happened so fast that even Perry was caught off guard, and suddenly we were bumping shoulders as Ms. Flynn gently pushed me into the house. It sent a light spark of electricity up my arm, a feeling I hadn't felt since we'd kissed. And even though it was little, it still felt _so_ good.

I wondered if Perry had felt it too. I looked at his face, trying to read him, but he was blank. He was staring at the floor, refusing to even look anywhere in my direction. His blank expression saddened me, but I completely understood why he was doing it, and knowing that I was the cause of that saddened me even more.

I was escorted along by Ms. Flynn, leaving Perry behind still staring at the door. I walked slightly in front of Ms. Flynn as she pointed me to the guest bedroom upstairs. It was a small, one person room, but it was good enough for me. I told Ms. Flynn to put my stuff down next to the bed, then thanked her for letting me stay.

"Oh, no problem honey!" She said warmly, the kind of response a real mother should give. "I'm so glad you finally get to hang around the house again. Perry's been moping about like the world is ending, and he obviously won't tell me what happened. Try to talk to him for me, please?" She asked me.

I smiled sadly. "Sure thing, Ms. Flynn."

She smiled back gently, then walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Then I finally relaxed. The first stage - just getting Perry to let me even stay in the house - was complete, thanks to the help of his mom. The second stage, probably ten times harder, was living with Perry even though we weren't speaking to each other. This was going to be interesting...

I flopped down on my new bed. It was actually quite comfortable for a guest bed. I looked around my new room, still trying to process everything. I would have to get used to a completely different routine. I would now have to become accustomed to having other children in the house, one of them English and another one a girl. I would also have to get used to two parents who interacted with their children instead of sweeping them under the rug. It was so weird to think about...

Eventually, I decided I was psyching myself out thinking about everything, so I just stopped. I became so tired with everything that had happened, that I just fell asleep. I was still in my street clothes and I was on top of the covers, but I couldn't care less. All I wanted at that particular moment was sleep.

The next morning, I woke up to a very loud pounding downstairs. Apparently, the Flynn-Fletcher family is a family of early risers, a trait that I later found out came around because of Phineas and Ferb. They don't like to waste a second of the day, so they get up as early as possible to work on whatever invention they were toying with next.

But at that moment, I couldn't care less about waking up early or fantastic brothers who truly seize the day. All I wanted was to sleep, just so I could forget. But with the loud pounding outside from the boys, and the activity going on downstairs with everyone else, it was impossible to even think about going back to sleep. So, I begrudgingly got out of bed, put on some new clothes, and opened my door.

Only to almost run right into Perry.

I quickly stepped back, almost falling over in my haste. Once I regained my balance, I noticed that Perry hadn't left, but was actually still raising his hand, as if he were about to knock on my door before I opened it. And he was still holding a surprised look on his face.

He lowered his hand slowly, then looked away shyly. "Um... Hey, Heinz..." Perry said quietly. I nodded, but didn't respond. Instead, I just waited for him to finish what he was going to say. "So, um... I think we need to talk... about what happened... especially if you're going to be living here for a while..."

I cringed. I was trying to avoid this, but I guess living in the same house as Perry was going to make this talk inevitable. "Yea... I think so, too..."

"Umm... I was going to take you in my car someplace quiet, if that's okay. I don't really want to worry about my parents or anyone else hearing us..."

"I understand. Let's go..."

And so, with that, I followed Perry outside to his car, we got in, and drove off. We didn't talk at all for the whole ride. I wasn't sure where he was taking me, but wherever it was, it literally wasn't near anything, and I'd definitely never been there before. We started driving out of town, where the houses turn into trees. We went up a winding back road, the trees looking like a tunnel as we drove through them, the sun peaking through the leaves. After a little while, we stopped at the top of a hill.

I stepped outside, confused about where Perry had taken me. I walked over to the side of the hill, laying down on my stomach and looking over the edge. I saw that it dropped off steeply, and at the bottom of the hill was our town. It looked so much more beautiful and exciting from up here. It was interesting to step back for a little while and take a look at the big picture.

But when Perry said he wanted quiet, he really meant absolutely quiet. Like I said before, our town is kind of small, so there were little to no activity going down below. There were no people up on top of the hill besides us. All we could hear was the slight chirping of birds in the forest behind us. It was extremely peaceful.

But the talk we were going to have would probably shatter that.

"This place is really beautiful..." I said absentmindedly, not remembering who I was talking to.

"Yea, I know." I hadn't realized Perry had walked towards me, but all of a sudden, I could feel him laying down next to me, looking over the edge of the hill like I was. "I found it a couple of days after we first moved to this town. I took a wrong turn and ended up here. I've come here a lot since... Mostly just to think..."

There was an awkward silence. We both knew what had been filling Perry's thoughts these past couple weeks, but neither of us wanted to touch the subject. We just sat there, looking at our town, trying not to look at each other.

"P-Perry... I'm sorry... about everything..." I finally said, breaking the silence. I willed myself to look at him, and was glad to see he was looking back at me, even though he did have a troubled look on his face.

"...I'm sorry, too..." he said quietly. "I shouldn't have just left you like that. I should've told you what was wrong... I just wasn't thinking..."

"I don't mind. I understand why you left me like that. I shouldn't have kissed you..."

"But I kissed you back..." And with those words being said, an enormous weight fell on us, and we were silent for another few moments. I wasn't sure if Perry was going to make an excuse for what happened, or if he was going to say he enjoyed it, so I just waited for him to gather his thoughts and talk again.

"I... I don't know what happened..." he began. "The reaction happened so fast... One minute I was just on top of you, laughing about the explosion. Then next thing I knew, you were kissing me. I wasn't sure how to react, so I guess I just went with the easiest option - kissing you back..."

"So, you didn't want to kiss me back?" I asked hesitantly.

"Well, that's the thing. It may have been natural reaction to kiss you back at first, but after that, you'd think I'd pull away if I wasn't enjoying it. But I didn't, not right away." he paused. "I... I wanted to kiss you..."

"Then why did you pull away?

"I was confused..." he said quietly. "I was enjoying the kiss, and I was enjoying it so much that I really didn't want it to stop. Then I realized that I was enjoying this kiss more than I had enjoyed any kiss with any girl I've ever dated. And that's when I pulled away..."

I paused, letting the reality of what he just said sink in a bit. He actually enjoyed it! This made me so happy!

"So... what does this mean?" I asked hesitantly.

"I'm still trying to figure it out..." he began. That meant there was a chance! "I left you in a huge hurry, and I haven't talked to you at all since then. I know I should have talked to you sooner than this, I just had no idea what to say."

"Yea, I wish we'd been able to talk sooner, too. But I wasn't sure if you hated me or not..."

"I'm sorry..." he said. "I had no intention of making you feel bad. I just needed some space. But I don't think I could ever really hate you..."

For the first time in a while, I felt warm inside at his words. "Haha, I guess I should have known that."

"Yea, I guess. But it's not like I was making it easy on you. Leaving you alone at lunch and not talking to you at all. But it hurt me to do that as well, you know. I'd gotten so used to hanging around you that it was hard to let go."

"Let's just forget about it, okay? We're together now, let's just move on."

He smiled, and it was the same, amazing smile that I hadn't seen in so long. "Okay."

We sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, just glad to be in each other's presence again. But, then I remembered he never answered my question. "Perry... you never answered. What does this mean... for us?"

He sighed. "I still don't know yet. I was trying to figure it out while you were gone, but I think I need you here to truly find out what I want to do. I just need you here, as my best friend. We can figure out what to do, together."

I smiled. Even though we were just going to be friends for the time being, I still had hope. I would still be able to hang out with him knowing that one day it might turn into something more. I was so grateful for Perry's acceptance in that moment. The way he was the first person to ever really get to know me, and how he became my best and only friend, even though the rest of the school hated him for doing so. I really just wanted to kiss him, to tell him thanks for everything, but I knew I would have to wait. But I didn't mind. I would wait as long as I had to, as long as I got to be with Perry in the meantime.

"Yea, I think I'd like that."

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><p>AN: Thanks for reading! Comments and critiques are always appreciated!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Phineas and Ferb © Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh

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><p>We spent a few more hours up in Perry's secret hiding place, the place he hadn't shown anyone except me. We just talked and laughed, just trying to get reacquainted with each other after being apart for so long. It was so nice to hear his voice and see his wonderful smile again. It made me wonder how I had survived so long without it.<p>

After a while, though, I noticed I was starting to get hungry. I realized I hadn't eaten breakfast that morning, as Perry and I had left to get here so quickly. I didn't want to say anything about it, as I was content to just sit here with him forever. But my stomach apparently had other plans, as it let out a huge grumble in the middle of Perry talking.

He paused, and I looked at him shyly. "Sorry."

He laughed. "Haha, no problem. I'm actually getting hungry, too. Neither of us had breakfast this morning. Let's go back to town and get some lunch."

Perry stood up first, then held his hand out to help me up, which I took. We walked back to his car, got in, and drove off, the paradise and serenity of his secret hiding place disappearing behind us. Pretty soon, nature turned into civilization, which meant we were back in town.

Perry decided to take me to Chez Platypus. "I wanted to show you this restaurant as soon as I went to it! It's got the most amazing food! You'll love it!"

I smiled at his enthusiasm. I had been curious about why everyone thought this place was so amazing. But at the same time, I was a little apprehensive. Because this place was so popular, a lot of the people from school ate here. I was afraid I might see one of them, when the only person I really wanted to see was Perry.

Once we were inside the restaurant, we were escorted to a table near one of the brightly painted walls. In fact, the entire place was brightly painted in colors no one would expect would go together. The walls were a vivid yellow-orange color while the floor was a muted teal, almost like Perry's hair. The tables were covered with white cloths, with vibrant red chairs for diners to sit in.

"Wow," I said, "Nice place."

"Yea, it's casual with a fancy feel to it. But wait till you taste the food. It is so amazing!"

I smiled. Then I realized that with our surroundings, it was almost like Perry and I were on a date. I was about to point this out jokingly, but got interrupted by the waitress coming to take our order. I hadn't even thought about looking at the menu, so I just ordered the same thing Perry ordered, trusting him to know the good food here.

"So..." Perry began cautiously after the waitress left, "you never told me how exactly you got kicked out."

I looked up, surprised. I had been wanting to spare Perry of the details of what happened with my father. I didn't want pity from him. Besides, why did it matter? If my father hadn't kicked me out, I wouldn't be here having lunch with Perry. I would probably be in my bedroom moping the day away wishing that I hadn't done what I did.

"It doesn't matter," I told Perry. "It's over. I'm here now, aren't I?"

"Heinz..." Perry said softly, suddenly putting his hand over mine above the table - which surprised me. He was being really daring with his acts of affection. "You said you'd tell me everything. I'm really glad that you're here and we're talking again. I just want to know what happened."

He looked at me sternly, still holding my hand. His look combined with everything he just said made me feel bad about keeping it a secret. But as I opened my mouth to tell him, I was interrupted by a voice that I didn't particularly want to hear.

"Aww, well isn't that just adorable!"

Perry and I both snapped to attention, Perry pulling his hand away quickly. We looked at the source of the voice, and I saw that it was a kid from school whose name was escaping me. All I knew was that he was definitely of the bullying type - jock, big muscles, little brain, etc.. I also remembered that I had seen Perry and him hanging out while Perry and I weren't talking. Which meant that Perry was one of his friends. Great...

As Perry's friend came towards us, Perry stood up. I assumed he was going to deflect some of the attention so it wasn't on me, which I was grateful for.

"Hey, man!" Perry said somewhat nervously. "What're you doing here?"

"I think the better question is: what are _you_ doing here, with _her_?"

Perry scowled, which surprised me. I'd never seen a look like that on his face before. Perry then looked around theatrically. "I don't see any girls around, do you? I think you might be hallucinating. The only person I see here is Heinz."

"He might as well be a girl," the kid said, grinning wickedly at me. I just looked away.

Perry then side-stepped in front of me so the kid could no longer see me. "Dude, just back off," Perry said firmly.

The kid stepped back a little, somewhat surprised. The expression quickly faded, though, as he went back to his normal bravado. But this time, he was talking to Perry. "So, you two on a date or something?"

"So what if we are?" Perry asked seriously. "What does it matter to you?"

The kid paused a second. "She contaminated you, didn't she," he stated, referring to me. "She made you think what she's doing is okay. I thought we'd finally gotten rid of it. Oh well, no problem. You just come over and sit with us," he gestured over to more of Perry's friends sitting in a table not far away, "and we'll make sure we get rid of whatever she did to you."

"Dude, just go away." Perry simply said.

The kid actually looked taken aback that a person actually just said no to him. He glared at me briefly before telling Perry, "Don't worry, we'll get you back. I'll make sure of it." And with that, he actually walked away.

His presence still lingered, though. Even after Perry made sure that he left and Perry sat back down, I could still feel the kid's and everyone else's eyes at that table staring at us, judging us. I felt like crying. I had never wanted to bring Perry into this. Now he was probably a prime target on that kid's hit list, and it was all my fault.

Perry, as usual, noticed how I was feeling, and instantly tried to make me feel better. "Hey, let's get out of here, okay? We'll ask the waitress for a to-go box and eat the food in the car. It's no big deal." I just nodded, fearing that if I were to speak, the tears I was holding back would come spilling down my cheeks, and I did _not_ want that to happen here.

Perry took care of everything, and we were soon on our way out the door and into Perry's car. We drove in silence for a little while before I finally said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to get dragged into that."

"You're saying sorry like it's your fault that you're getting bullied. I was just trying to put that guy in his place. He had no right to say the things he said to you."

"I know, but I just never wanted to bring you down with me."

"You're not 'bringing me down with you'. I chose to be here. It's my decision. Those guys need to know that who you are isn't wrong. If not for your sake, then for the next gay kid who unknowingly crosses their path. They need to change, not you."

My tears finally came out. I tried to quickly hide them, but Perry noticed the movement. He looked at me with concern. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said, wiping away my tears. "Just... thank you... for sticking up for me back there."

"Don't worry about it," he said, smiling. "Let's forget about it. No use in worrying about the bad stuff. That wouldn't be a very good use of time, now would it?" He grinned.

"No, no it wouldn't" I replied, smiling.

"Hey, speaking of good use of time, do you want to see what my brothers are up to? I bet they're doing something incredible because it's the weekend. I'm sure you'll love their inventions, considering you're a science nerd and all that."

My interest was instantly piqued. After Perry had first shown me his brothers' rollercoaster, I'd been dying to see them in action. I nodded vigorously at Perry's offer, "Yes!"

Perry smiled, driving us back to his, I mean, our house, and on the way, we ate our food (which was amazing, just like Perry said). When we pulled up, I noticed that both Mr. and Mrs.'s Fletcher's cars were gone, but there were several supply trucks lined up by the backyard. But then I looked up, and saw one of the largest rollercoaster drops I had ever seen. I was still amazed by how two small boys could build something so extravagant.

"Hmm..." Perry said beside me, "I wonder why they're building the rollercoaster again."

"You mean it's weird for Phineas and Ferb to build the same invention twice? Wow... They must be pretty creative to come up with a new invention every day."

"That's usually Phineas' thing. He comes up with the plans, then Ferb helps execute them. They complete each other, in a sense. I really admire them." Perry said, looking up at the rollercoaster. Then he looked back down at me, and smiled. "C'mon! Let's go see what they're up to!"

Perry ran enthusiastically to the backyard, and I quickly followed suit. When we got back there, we found Phineas and Ferb just about to go back up in their building contraption after picking up more supplies. But they noticed us before they went back up, and Phineas had a surprised look on his face. He immediately jumped off the building cart, running over to us.

"Aww! I thought you guys weren't going to be home until later! We wanted to surprise Heinz!"

I looked at him, "Why did you want to surprise me?"

"Because we saw how sad you looked yesterday when you came to our house. Then, Ferb remembered how you looked so excited when we built the rollercoaster in New York. So we figured we'd cheer you up by bringing the coaster here." Phineas explained. "But, I guess since you're already here, do you want to help us build it?"

My day instantly got brighter with just those few simple words. "Absolutely!"

Phineas then looked over at Perry. "C'mon, Perry! You can help us, too!"

And with that, we were being dragged along on an incredible ride, literally. Phineas explained the blueprints to Perry and I, and then we were off, building this amazing device that shouldn't have been possible. When Phineas and Ferb had finally declared it complete, we had already been through half the town, bending under bridges and above houses, through trees and over lakes. It was the most phenomenal thing I had ever seen.

"So," Phineas said, holding out his hand, "do you want to ride it?"

"Oh, yes!"

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><p>AN: Thanks for reading! Comments and critiques are always appreciated!


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Phineas and Ferb © Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh

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><p>It felt weird waking up the next day after having the most topsy-turvy weekend ever. Even after Perry's sister Candace had tried to bust the rollercoaster unsuccessfully (I had never really met Perry's sister, but wow, was she obsessed with busting her brothers), and a mysterious force took the rollercoaster away (it seemed like that was normal around this house), I was still so happy about everything that had happened. I didn't want the weekend to end.<p>

But, of course, school had other plans. So, reluctantly, I got out of bed and started to get ready for the day. I pulled my clothes on, ran my fingers quickly through my hair, grabbed my backpack off the ground, and went downstairs. Of course, being the early-risers that they are, everybody else was already downstairs, including Perry.

Ms. Flynn was at the stove making breakfast, while her husband was sitting at the table reading the morning paper. Phineas and Ferb were talking animatedly amongst each other - well, Phineas was talking, Ferb was listening. And Candace was talking to Perry about something, but Perry didn't seem very interested.

I suddenly felt very awkward. I had never really done anything with the entire family involved. But now, as they sat there at the table, interacting with each other, probably like they do every morning, I felt as if I was intruding on this. So I just stood there awkwardly, not wanting to interrupt their morning and be a burden.

But that's when Perry finally turned from his conversation with Candace, noticing me. His face brightened, and he smiled as he said, "Good morning, Heinz!"

Suddenly, all activity in the room stopped, as the attention was now on me. But a beat later, everyone was suddenly smiling at me, welcoming me to the table with open arms. "Here," Mr. Fletcher said, "you can sit in my place. I'll go help Linda with breakfast."

"Oh, Mr. Fletcher, it's not a big deal. I'll just sit over here at the counter." I said, still feeling like a burden.

"Don't be silly," Mr. Fletcher said with his thick English accent. "You can sit here with the kids." Since Mr. Fletcher was already standing up, I decided to take him up on the offer, and sat in his seat.

After I sat down, it seemed like everything went back to its normal routine. Mr. Fletcher was now helping Ms. Fletcher in the kitchen, Phineas was talking excitedly to Ferb, and Candace was glaring daggers at her brothers across the table. When I looked at Perry, I saw that he was smiling gently at me. He could probably tell what I was thinking.

I was so happy in just this one moment. Even though I was a new person, I was being welcomed into their family as if I had always been here. This must've been what it felt like to have a real family. A family who loved you unconditionally, instead of one who was ashamed of you. It was nice to feel loved for a change.

I smiled back at Perry. I was so glad everything had happened the way it happened. I was so glad to be back with Perry again, just to have him by my side as my best friend. Even if that friendship never turned into anything more, I would be okay with that, as long as he stayed in my life.

Ms. Flynn served our breakfast, placing three dishes in the middle of the table - one with scrambled eggs, another with bacon, and another with pancakes. It was sort of like a buffet-style set up. "Alright everyone, dig in!"

Everyone grabbed the food that they wanted, a flurry of hands reaching for the dishes. I decided on pancakes and bacon. And wow, could Ms. Flynn cook. The breakfast was amazing! Way better than my mother ever cooked. I couldn't stop eating because it was so good! I didn't want it to go to waste! But eventually, I had to stop, or I would've exploded. That would've been a mess.

Soon after, Perry and I were walking to school, Candace having left ahead of us for fear of being seen with her older brother. We walked in silence for most of it, just comfortable to be in each other's presence.

Pretty soon, we saw the school, and it was like a whole different world. Instead of just being alone with Perry, who never judged me and never thought twice about hanging around with me, there were 1,000 other kids that I would have to impress, if only for the sake of not getting punched in the face. I sighed. Well, it was now or never...

Perry and I walked in together, before separating for a few moments to go to our lockers. When we met up again in first hour, we sat next to each other, and talked for a bit before having to pay attention to announcements. This was where we got our first batch of weird looks. Perry and I hadn't been seen together in a couple of weeks, and now all of sudden we were best friends again. The social chain didn't work like that. We were an anomaly, and high-schoolers cannot fathom a social anomaly.

Perry and I simple ignored the weird stares, and continued talking and laughing as if we'd never been apart. It was sort of like a silent rebellion - if they're gonna stare at you, give 'em something to stare at.

Unfortunately, first period ended too soon. I said goodbye to Perry, and as I left to go to second period, I realized that this was the first time I'd been away from Perry since we got back together. I didn't want to be clingy, it was just weird to think that we'd been spending all this time together.

Second hour went by slowly, of course. No surprise there. Third hour, we met up again for my favorite class of the day, science. Perry and I asked to be lab partners again, and after a weird look from our teacher, he conceded, agreeing to go back to the way the lab partners were before. Perry and I smiled as we sat down in our usual seats, happy to be working together again.

The assignment today was a simple equation. So, I decided to see if Perry had improved while I'd been away. So, I let him do the experiment, while I supervised to prevent any more explosions.

"So, do you know what the equation on the board says?" I asked.

"Yea, I think so..." Perry said hesitantly before naming off a bunch of chemicals that were to be mixed together. They were all correct, so I let Perry continue.

Once he was finished putting all the chemicals, he mixed them quickly, before standing back to admire his work. Well, it wasn't turning purple or bubbling, so that was definitely a good sign. In fact, it was doing exactly what it was supposed to do. He'd done it perfectly.

When I looked at him, I noticed he was looking at me for approval. I put both thumbs up and smiled at him. He smiled and laughed back, doing a small fist pump in the air. I laughed at his excitement.

"Congratulations!" I said jokingly. "You managed to mix chemicals together without them exploding!"

He smiled triumphantly at me! "I know! Way better than last time!" At this, we both sort of blushed, as we knew what had happened last time.

Since it was Perry who was doing the entire assignment, it took a bit longer, so by the time we were done, the class only had five minutes left in it. Perry and I agreed to meet each other for lunch, then we said goodbye to go to fourth hour.

When I finally arrived at lunch, I noticed Perry was already at our table. When he noticed me, he smiled. I smiled back, then continued to the lunch line to purchase my almost inedible school food. I walked over to our table, where we sat alone. I didn't have any problem with this, though.

As I sat down in front of Perry, I couldn't help but notice one particular person who was staring at us. It was the bully from Chez Platypus. He was laughing with his friends, occasionally glancing up and pointing at us, making it obvious that we were the topic of his amusement.

Perry noticed where I was looking though, and shifted over so he was in front of the bully. "Hey, Heinz, don't worry about them. They're scum, they're nothing."

"I know," I replied. "It's just difficult to ignore things like that sometimes."

"Well, don't think about them. I'm here, and I'm the person in front of you. Just think about me." Ha, as if I hadn't been doing enough of that already.

I sighed, conceding. "Okay."

It actually worked, though, as the entire cafeteria seemed to disappear, and it was only us two, talking. Sure there was loud background noise, but I didn't care enough to pick out bits and pieces of what people were saying. I was just focusing on Perry - what he was saying, how he looked when he laughed, or when he smiled.

The rest of the day passed by slowly, of course, but I got through it, and met Perry by my locker before we left. On the way back, Candace joined up with us, finally deeming it a safe enough distance from school that none of her friends would see her. I laughed. She was nice, but man, she was paranoid sometimes.

When we arrived at home, Perry and I separated to our bedrooms, both of us having a ton of homework to complete. I told Perry I would complete the lab report for the science assignment, since he did all the work in class. He felt bad at first, but finally conceded. I wasn't going to let him have that one.

After a few hours of boring homework later (seriously, Spanish conjugations!), around 8 o'clock at night, I heard a soft knock on my door. I opened it, and saw that it was Perry.

"Hey, are you done with your homework?" he asked, almost conspiratorily.

"Yea," I answered quietly. "Just finished. Why?"

"Come with me," was all he said, and then he was gone, already walking down the hall expecting me to be following behind him.

I shut my door quietly and followed, having no idea where we were going or why we were being so quiet. Then, I heard the jangle of his keys as he grabbed them before we both headed outside to get into his car.

"Where are we going?" I asked once we were safely away from his house.

"Up to the hill" he explained. "I went there a lot at night because I would get so bored after school when you weren't around. The stars are really beautiful. There's a lot less light pollution, so there's a lot more stars. I just wanted you to see it."

So we drove along the same route that we had taken before, the line between civilization and nature very visible with the disappearance of buildings and the appearance of trees. Even though we had just gotten out of the main part of town, you could still tell that there were more stars appearing. I wondered what it would be like up on the hill, no people or light anywhere, just the stars.

When we finally arrived at the clearing on the top of the hill, Perry pulled out a blanket for us to lay on on the grass. We laid it out together, and when it was complete, I flopped on it, messing it all up. Perry just laughed at me before doing the same, and soon, we were laying side by side on our backs, looking up at the stars.

And Perry was absolutely right. The stars were gorgeous. More stars than I'd ever seen in my little house in town. It reminded me that there was so much out there in the world. You just had to go and discover it. And I hoped that Perry would be there alongside me while I did.

We were quiet for a few moments, enjoying the view, before Perry finally spoke. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yes," I breathed softly, "Yes, it is."

We were quiet for another few moments, not wanting to ruin the serenity of it. Then I said, "I love how you show me these amazing things. I would've never seen them if I'd never met you... So thank you." I looked at him.

He looked over at me, too, smiling. "You're welcome."

We looked back up at the sky, but as I shifted to get more comfortable, my hand accidently bumped into Perry's. I tried to pull it away quickly, blushing, but I soon found that Perry had captured it, now holding my hand in his.

When I looked at him expectantly, he simply said, "I've got to test the waters, right?"

I didn't argue or question him. How could I? As I sat here, holding Perry's hand, looking up at the stars, I couldn't have been happier.

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><p>AN: Thanks for reading! Comments and critiques are always appreciated!


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Phineas and Ferb © Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh

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><p>"Shoot!" I exclaimed loudly, startling both Perry and Candace, who were walking next to me. We were walking back home after another day at school. But neither of them had expected such a loud noise to come from me. I hadn't really expected it either. I looked back over at them, an apologizing look on my face. "Sorry."<p>

"What's wrong?" Perry asked.

"I forgot my science book in my locker," I explained, already starting to backtrack towards school. "I'll go get it and meet you guys at home, okay?"

Perry had a concerned look on his face. "Alright," he said. "But be careful."

I nodded. "Don't worry, it's just school."

Perry's expression didn't change, he simply nodded and turned back around, walking towards his house. I took that to mean I could go, so I turned toward the school and started jogging slowly. I was by no means an active person, I just wanted to get the book quickly and go back home.

An exhausting five minutes later, I arrived at the front doors of the school. Everybody had already gone home, except for the sports teams, so the hallways were empty. I always found it creepy to be in a school when there was nobody around, even if it wasn't at night. Just a weird thing, I guess.

I arrived at my locker and opened it quickly, taking out the book I needed for science. Today had been a lecture day, therefore we had book homework instead of a lab report. I would have preferred the lab report. But I guess book homework was necessary, too. Unfortunately.

I closed the locker slowly, double and triple checking to make sure I had every book I needed so I wouldn't have to come back here. But when I turned around to walk out, I ran into someone, and the force of it felt like I was running into a brick wall, and I was knocked back a few feet. But when I looked up to say sorry to whoever I ran into, the face I saw was one I didn't particularly want to see.

"Well," the bully from Chez Platypus said slowly. "What do we have here."

As if from nowhere, five other jocks came out and were surrounding me, all with equally mischievous grins as their leader. I looked around quickly, trying to find a hole that they may have left open for me to escape through, but there was none. They kept closing in, the circle getting smaller and smaller until I began to feel claustrophobic. I wanted out. I didn't like where this was going.

"Hey guys," I tried to act nonchalant, hoping they'd go away. Of course, that never worked.

"Hey there, Heinz," he said back, as if we'd been best friends forever. "Where's Perry?"

"Oh, you know, at his house,"

"Good. He won't be here to protect you this time." Suddenly, I was shoved up against my locker, and I could feel my feet leaving the floor. I dropped my science book on the ground, forgotten as I was trying to protect myself. The five guys surrounding us started closing in further than they already were, ready to strike when their leader gave the order.

"So," he asked, getting too close to my face, "what have you done to our good friend, Perry?"

"I haven't done anything to him!" I spat back, tired of this usual schpiel. "Have you ever considered that it's Perry's choice to hang out with me instead of you?" I yelled, now trying to wriggle out of his grasp.

He just held onto my shirt tighter. "Now, see," he began, "I don't really believe that. There's no way Perry would want to hang out with a _fag_ like you instead of the right people, like us. So you must have something on him, because I wouldn't expect the likes of _you_ to be any better than that."

"I don't have anything on him! I'm telling you, it's _his_ choice that he wants to hang out with me! I've got nothing to do with it!" I didn't even know why I was arguing with these people. It wouldn't matter anyways. They would beat me up whether they agreed with my argument or not.

"Well, that's too bad." he said. "I guess we're just gonna have to tell you to stay away from Perry, which might bother him at first, but in the long run, it'll be much better for him. Don't you think so, Heinz?"

"No!" I yelled in his face, "I won't do that!"

"You can yell all you want, Heinz, but in the end, you're going to do it, and do you know why?" When all he received was a glare from me, he continued. "Because if you don't, you'll feel _this_ kind of pain every day."

I started wriggling even more to try and get out of his grasp because I knew where this was going. Before I knew it, the kid had dropped me harshly to the floor. Since I wasn't expecting it, my legs buckled underneath me, and I fell to the ground. And then the beating finally came, a flurry of kicks and punches on different parts of my body. There was no way I was going to be able to sit up and try and get away. I'd been beaten up enough times to know that much. All I could do was curl up in a ball and cover my head with my arms in a feeble attempt to protect myself. So, that's what I did.

A few moments later, one of the kids decided to finally grow a conscious, satisfied enough with his share of the beating. He said I'd had enough, and their leader agreed, so everyone stopped. But of course, their leader had to get in the last kick, as always, before he could go. So, after one final kick and a warning to stay away from Perry, the pack walked away, leaving me still curled up in a ball on the floor.

I stayed there for a while, curled up in my little ball. Nobody was walking around the halls, so it was absolutely silent, but right now, that silence was deafening. All I wanted was for Perry to come rushing to me, shouting, just something to fill this silence that was surrounding me, reminding me that I was alone. But no, Perry was at home. Not even he was going to rescue me from this silence this time.

I began to cry quietly. No matter how many times this happened to me, I always cried. These kinds of things always made me feel so worthless, like I wasn't good enough. And later, I would always remember that they're the ones being idiots. But in the moment, all I always thought about was that I didn't deserve anything. I wasn't worth it. And that's why I would cry.

I closed my eyes for a few moments, trying to calm myself down. I needed to get home. I couldn't stay here on the floor all night. So, with great care, I opened my eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to lift myself off the floor into a sitting position. I gasped as the pain finally hit me, spreading through all the muscles that were being used to lift me up, my stomach being hit the worst. But at least I was up.

I took a few moments before I tried to stand up, taking this time to grab the science book that had been carelessly thrown on the floor. Then I took another deep breath, and stood up, using the lockers for support. Once I felt confident enough, I let go of the lockers, wiped my eyes clean of any tears, and tried to walk out of this school like nothing had happened.

Yes, it was a very painful walk home. I cringed with every single step. But I had to get home, and I had to pretend like nothing had happened. I didn't want anyone to worry about me.

Eventually I reached the house, it's yellow paint like a blessing in disguise. I walked up to the door and opened it, feeling a little dizzy from my walk. I dismissed it quickly, though, and continued walking until I was in the living room.

I was getting more light-headed, but I continued to ignore it, not really thinking properly. I looked over to the kitchen and saw that familiar mess of teal hair. He had his back turned to me because he was apparently making a snack. He finally turned around, and smiled when he saw me. "Hey..." then I saw his smile quickly fade, "Heinz?"

At least I think that's what he said. I wasn't quite sure because my vision was getting blurrier and it was starting to get hard to focus. I blinked hard, trying to make the fuzziness to away, but it wasn't working. Perry was now starting to rush over to me, and as I started to fall, the last thing I saw was Perry's arms wrapping around me, catching me before I hit the ground.

I woke up to the sound of a television blaring some sort of a sports game loudly. I opened my eyes slowly, but then regretted doing so, as the bright lights from the TV were now blinding me. I blinked several times, trying to get my eyes to adjust get rid of the fuzziness that was left over from sleeping. Once my eyes were adjusted, I tried to sit up so I could see where I was, but instantly regretted that decision as well. A sharp pain shot throughout my entire body, and I gasped loudly, falling back down.

I heard some shifting to my left, so I tried to at least move my head so I could see what it was. That didn't hurt too terribly, and when I looked, I saw that it was Perry, sleeping in the chair next to me. Which meant that I was on the living room couch. Okay, one problem solved. Now I wanted to know how I got here in the first place.

I didn't think that was going to be answered any time soon, so I focused on figuring out my situation. I looked at the clock on the TV, and saw that it read 11:09 pm. Which meant that I'd been out for a while. I then realized I was feeling some sort of cold on my stomach. When I looked down, I saw that three bags of ice had been placed on my stomach in different spots, where I assumed bruises were forming. I also didn't have a shirt on... Awkward...

I heard some more shifting, and when I looked over, I saw Perry's eyes open slowly, him also getting blinded by the brightness of the television. When he looked around and noticed I was awake, his eyes became wide. He hopped out of his chair and rushed over to me quickly, kneeling on the floor in front of me.

"Oh my god, Heinz, what happened to you!"

I was so caught off guard by his sudden motions that I had trouble even comprehending that Perry was now sitting in front of me. I must've gotten a concussion or something. When my brain finally registered, I tried to play it off like it was nothing. No use in him worrying about me more than he already was. "I ran into some bullies, that's all."

"What do you mean, that's all?" Perry said, now slightly glaring at me. "Look at what they did to you! You've got bruises all over your body!"

"They'll heal, Perry." I said, trying to get him to stop worrying. "It's not the end of the world."

He paused for a moment before saying, "...I really don't like how nonchalant you're being about this."

"Well, what am I supposed to say, Perry!" I snapped before I could think. I instantly regretted it. "I'm sorry..."

"It's fine..." he said quietly. "I'd prefer you yelling than just not saying anything about it. It means your frustrated."

I started to remember how I felt right after the bullies left. How I felt worthless, unloved. And I remembered how many times I'd felt that way. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. There was no stopping them now. "Yea," I said quietly, letting the tears fall freely. I didn't really care anymore. "I'm frustrated."

Perry looked at me sadly. He lifted his hand up to my forehead, gently stroking my hair a few times to get it out of my face. Then he drew a line with his fingers down my face until he was cupping my cheek, rubbing the tears away with his thumb. I leaned as far as I could into his touch.

"Just rest tonight, okay?" Perry whispered. "My mom gave you the day off tomorrow. She wants to take you to the doctor." I simply nodded, my voice to shaky to say anything. "I'm going to sleep down here tonight, so if you need anything, just ask, okay?" I nodded again.

We stayed in that position for a while. It was so comforting so know that he was there, that his touch was so close. Despite all my bumps and bruises, I fell asleep and slept the whole night. It was relaxing knowing that Perry was sleeping only a few feet away.

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><p>AN: Thanks for reading! Comments and critiques are always appreciated!


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Phineas and Ferb © Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh

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><p>The next morning, I was awoken by a slight nudging on my left arm. When I opened my eyes, the sunlight from the windows blinded me, and I had a mini-heart attack thinking I'd slept in and was going to be late for school. But when I tried to sit up, I was painfully reminded of why I wasn't going to school. It hurt even worse today than it did yesterday.<p>

"Whoa, Heinz, slow down," I heard Ms. Flynn say as she put a hand on my shoulder, trying to hold me down. "I don't know if Perry told you, but I'm taking you to the doctor's this morning, so you're not going to school." She checked her watch briefly before continuing. "It's about 9:30 now, and your appointment is at 10. We should probably get there a little early, so why don't you put on this shirt," she handed me a shirt that she must have gotten from my room, "and then we can go."

I nodded, taking the shirt from her. She helped me sit up slowly, removing the ice bags that were still on my stomach as she did so. I attempted to put the shirt on without causing much pain, but of course that didn't work, so I was in even more pain. When the shirt was finally on, Ms. Flynn helped me stand, then I was on my own to walk. I was slow, which Ms. Flynn didn't mind, as she slowed down her pace to match mine.

I felt a pain in my chest that wasn't caused by the bullies. My own mother had never treated me like this before. Yet here was Ms. Flynn, taking in a kid she'd only known for a couple months into her house, and treating him like he was part of the family. It amazed me how kind she was, how kind the entire family was. Mr. Fletcher, Phineas, Ferb, and even Candace had all treated me like I was just another member of the family.

I wished I could do so much to thank her, but I didn't even know where to start. "Thank you," I said quietly, knowing it wasn't nearly enough.

"Don't be silly," she simply said, waving it off, "I would do this if any of my own boys were hurt. It's no big deal."

"No, I mean, thank you for everything. For giving me a home, for taking me to the doctor... I couldn't have asked for anything better. So, thank you."

I saw she was blushing a bit, "Oh, well, you're welcome, Heinz. It's really no trouble. It's great to have you around. "

I smiled. Those were words I'd never heard before.

We got into Ms. Flynn's station wagon and drove to the doctor's, arriving a bit early, just like Ms. Flynn said we should. Since it was the morning on a school day, there weren't very many people here, so I got to go in pretty quickly. Ms. Flynn stayed in the waiting room while I went back with the doctor.

It wasn't a very eventful visit. The doctor told me that I had a concussion, and that I also had a broken rib, which was why my stomach was in so much pain. Both those things, plus the bruising, the doctor could to nothing about, so only time could heal it. He gave me some painkillers to ease the pain when it got really intense, but other than that, I was told to just relax, ice, and take it easy.

I told Ms. Flynn all this when I met her in the waiting room, then she went to the counter to finish everything while I waited. (I guess she found a way to cover me with her insurance? I have no idea, I just went with it.) Then we got back in the car, and drove home, making a quick stop at the pharmacy to get my prescription filled.

Just like the doctor's visit, the rest of the day at home wasn't very eventful. Ms. Flynn went back to work at her husband's antique shop, so I had the house to myself. But all I could do was sit around and watch television, but since it was the middle of the day, there were no shows on worth watching. So I ended up just poking around some of their bookshelves until I found a book I liked, reading that until everyone came home.

Candace was the first person home, as the high school lets out the earliest. When I asked her where Perry was, she said something along the lines of she doesn't keep track of her older brother or something like that. Then Phineas and Ferb came home, then Mr. and Ms. Fletcher. But still no Perry.

Perry didn't have any after school activities that I could think of - he'd transfered too late in the year to sign up for anything. And he usually never stayed for sporting events. That's why he was always there, walking home with me and Candace from school. So what was keeping him?

I really sounded clingy. That was the last thing I wanted to be. But after what happened to me, I was anxious to make sure Perry was alright. Oh, who was I kidding. Perry could take care of himself. Maybe he had actually decided to watch a football game? He was probably fine.

"Hey, Heinz?" Phineas said, snapping me back to reality. "Can we show you something?"

I hadn't noticed that Phineas and Ferb had been standing right in front of me. But now that I looked, I saw that Ferb was holding what looked like a fancy white T-shirt. At my confused look, Phineas continued. "We made something for you to help you heal faster."

At that, Ferb held up the fancy shirt. "It's like an ice pack that you can wear all the time, without all the hassle of the ice bags. It never melts or gets warm, and we made it so that nothing can condense on it, so it doesn't get all wet and gross on the outside. Plus, because it's like and undershirt, you can wear it wherever you go so you don't have to lie down and do nothing while you ice your injuries."

"So, what do you think?" Ferb asked.

I took it from him slowly, looking it over. It was definitely cold, and there was definitely no condensation. Plus, it felt light, so it wouldn't weigh down on me if I were to wear it around all day. It was just like a normal undershirt. It was amazing.

I looked up at them, then opened my arms, inviting them into a hug. "I love it!" I exclaimed. That's when they smiled and hugged me back, but they were kind enough to do so gently because I was still in a lot of pain. When we broke apart, I looked at it again, and said, "In fact, I think I'm going to go put it on right now."

So, that's what I did. I lifted myself off the couch and walked slowly up the stairs to get to my bedroom. Once there, I took off the shirt I was wearing and put on Phineas and Ferb's. It fit perfectly, and it felt like a regular undershirt. But the cold the shirt provided felt so amazing. I wondered how I had survived without it.

I heard the front door open downstairs, but thought nothing of it at first. Then I heard Ms. Flynn fussing over something, so I figured Perry must've come home, and Ms. Flynn was just wondering where he'd been all this time. I wanted to show Perry the ice-pack-shirt Phineas and Ferb had made me, but I didn't want to interrupt Ms. Flynn, so I just stayed in my room.

But then I heard somebody bounding up the stairs, so I thought maybe I'd be able to show Perry now. But when I opened the door to see who it was, I saw Perry, who looked like he was about ready to knock on my door before I opened it. But then he stepped into the light, and I saw what Ms. Flynn was really fussing about.

"Whoa, Perry! What happened?"

Perry had a bloody nose, a bruise around his eye that looked like it was going to be there for a while, and a cut on his forehead that was bleeding. When I took his hand to lead him into the room, I saw that he had blood on his knuckles, but it didn't look like his own. He'd obviously gotten into a fight and had been fighting back.

I sat him down on the bed and sat in front of him, looking at all his injuries. "Wait here," I said. "I'm going to go get a washcloth."

I left quickly and almost sprinted down the stairs, my injuries becoming inconsequential. I found the drawer with the washcloths, pulled one out, rinsed it in the sink, then sprinted back upstairs. When I got to my room, I sat back down in front of Perry, gently dabbing the washcloth on his forehead, where it was bleeding. He closed his eyes, leaning into my touch.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened?" I asked.

He opened his eyes slowly, frowning at me. Then he said, "I got in a fight."

"Obviously," I said, rolling my eyes.

He smiled at that, which made me smile back. Then he continued, frowning again. "I confronted those bullies that beat you up yesterday. I tried to get them to back off. But they didn't listen. They just kept going on and on about how you were contaminating me and how I should join them instead. But do you know what got them to shut up?"

"What?" I said, humoring him. I had moved down to his bloodied hand, taking it in mine and washing it.

He paused, taking a deep breath. He grabbed my hands when I was pulling away, having already finished washing his. He looked away shyly for a second, then looked back up at me, saying, "I told them I love you."

My heart literally stopped. I swear, if I was hooked up to a heart monitor at that moment, it would have been a flat line. My eyes went wide at the realization of what he just said. But then, as some sort of weird reaction, I thought of how I'd gotten kicked out, and how it was eerily similar. And then I started laughing.

Perry looked at me confused. I moved up to sit on the bed next to him, still holding his hands. "Do you remember," I started, trying to explain, "when you asked me how I got kicked out? Well, I got kicked out because I told my father that I love you, too. Weird how things work out that way, huh?"

Perry laughed, a very warm laugh that made me smile just hearing it. Then he said, "Well, I guess the only people we have left to say it to is each other."

"Yea, I guess so," I smiled.

Perry released one of my hands, moving his up to cup my cheek. I closed my eyes and leaned into the touch briefly before opening them again. Perry was smiling gently at me, the most beautiful sight in all the world. "I love you, Heinz Doofenshmirtz," he finally said, and even though he'd already said it, I still felt like my heart skipped a beat.

"Perry," I sighed happily, "I've been waiting so long to hear that." I leaned forward so our foreheads were touching. "I love you, too."

I reached the rest of the way until our lips finally met, and there was an explosion of joy that seemed like it was ten times better than the last time. This one had more passion behind it, and it felt like we had overcome all obstacles just to share this one moment.

But as I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he wrapped his arms around my waist to pull me closer, never breaking contact, I realized that nothing else in the world mattered. They were insignificant to the joy and relief that I was feeling right now. My father didn't matter, the bullies didn't matter. Every bad day or beating I'd ever had to deal with all disappeared. They didn't matter.

The only thing that was truly important in this world was the person who was sitting right in front of me, kissing me, and who always made me feel like _I _was the most important thing in the world. The person who loved me for who I was, and who was always there for me, through the tears and the happiness. The person who I loved.

'Perry,' I thought to myself, my smile widening through our kiss, 'I am _never_ going to let you go.'

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><p>AN: And that's the end! Thanks for reading! Comments and critiques are always appreciated!


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